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'IHF f^

OF A

iREAT CANADIAN

FA. Talbot

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DEC 1 5 1998
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THE MAKING OF A GREAT
CANADIAN RAILWAY

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The Making of a
Great Canadian Railway

THE STORY OF THE SEARCH FOR AND

DISCOVERY OF THE ROUTE, AND THE CONSTRUCTION

OF THE NEARLY COMPLETED

GRAND TRUNK PACIFIC RAILWAY

FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE

HARDSHIPS AND STIRRING ADVENTURES OF

ITS CONSTRUCTORS IN UNEXPLORED COUNTRY

FREDERICK A. TALBOT

AUTHOR OF "the NEW GARDEN OF CANADA," fir-c, ^c.

WITH FORTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS (Sr* A MAP

TORONTO

THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY

LIMITED
1912

If'

!■■■» mtwl m^

£8IN0ALE

COLLEGE

LIBRARY

PREFACE

THIS is the day of great railway-building achieve-
ments, and among these the Grand Trunk Pacific,
stretching across the breadth of Canada, stands pre-
eminent. Only scanty information has been communicated
to the world at large concerning its inception and con-
struction, as those participating in its realisation are
busily occupied on the task.

This volume is intended to give " a peep behind the
scenes " of this railway in the moulding stage. The
greater part of the year 1910 I spent on the spot, fraternis-
ing with the engineers, teamsters, graders, and others
engaged upon the work. I travelled from point to point
by whatever vehicle was available, from pack-horse to a
Pullman express, from canoe to river steamer, from team
waggon to construction locomotive. When all other
means of transportation failed I walked. In this way I
covered not only the ground where work is completed
and in active progress, but pushed across the gap of
840 miles then remaining to be built through the Rocky
Mountains, and the North-western wilderness, by the only
means possible — pack-horse and canoe.

This book makes no pretence to appeal to the engineer,
who is concerned essentially with the purely technical
side of the work. It is intended for those who are interested
in the romantic side of railway-building, or who have

8 PREFACE

interests at stake in this highway. At the same time the
professional mind may find something worthy of his notice ;
also it may serve to introduce the young engineer, waiting
to win his spurs, to the conditions surrounding the laying
of the steel highway in the Dominion.

My thanks are due to President Hays and the various
members of his staff who spared no effort to give me every
assistance ; to the Commissioners of the National Trans-
Continental Railway in regard to the Government section
of the line ; to ]\Ir. B. B. Kelliher, the engineer-in-chief of
the Grand Trunk Pacific, more especially for permission
to reproduce the condensed profile of the grade between
Winnipeg and Prince Rupert ; to Mr. J. W. Stewart, of
Messrs. Foley, Welch, and Stewart, the constructional
engineers, and the numerous sub -contractors. Last, but
not least, I am indebted to many whom I met for per-
mission to reproduce the accompanying illustrations.

Frederick A. Talbot.

Hove, July 31«<, 1911.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAOK

The Birth of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway 17

CHAPTER n

Threading New Treasure Lands from Coast to
Coast . . . . . .32

CHAPTER m

The Reconnaissance in the Wilderness and
How the Railway Line was Discovered . 44

CHAPIER IV
How the Surveyors were Tended in the Wilds 57

CHAPTER V
i The Heroes of the Wilderness . . .71

CHAPTER VI

The Discovery of the " Clay Belt," a Wonderful
New Agricultural Country in Northern
Ontario, and the Porcupine Gold Fields . 83

10 CONTENTS

CHAPTER VII

Bringing up the Constructional Armies and
THE Railway Builders' Heavy Artillery . 96

CHAPTER VIII
The Grim Tussle with Nature . . . 108

CHAPTER IX

The Quebec Bridge, the Largest Cantilever
Structure in the World . . . 124

CHAPTER X
Spanning the Prairie with the Bond of Steel . 133

CHAPTER XI
Towns and Cities Built to Order . . 149

CHAPTER XII

Spying the Path through the Rocky Mountains,
and the Capture of the Yellowhead Pass . 161

CHAPTER XIII

Preparing for the Attack on the Rocky Moun-
tains ...... 178

CHAPTER XIV

Building the Line through the Rocky Moun-
tains ...... 190

CONTENTS 11

CHAPTER XV PAo.

An Empire of To-morrow, and the Dormant
Riches of New British Columbia . . 203

CHAPTER XVI
The Perils of Searching for the Easy Grade . 215

CHAPTER XVn
Opening up the Last Wilderness . . 226

CHAPTER XVIH
y^ Life in the Railway Camps . . 288

CHAPTER XIX

The " Station-man " . . . . . 254

CHAPl'ER XX

Through the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific
Coast ...... 266

CHAPTER XXI
The Conquest of the Cascades . . . 277

CHAPTER XXII

Track-Laying by Machinery . . . 290

CHAPTER XXIII
The Wonders of Bridge-Building . . 301

12 CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXIV p^oe

Establishing a New Port on the Pacific . 314

CHAPTER XXV

•^ The Future of the Railway and its Influence

UPON Canadian and International Commerce 327

Index ....... 345

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Battle River Viaduct . . . Fronti^ece

FACING PAOE

Elevation from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert (1) .36

(2) . 36

Laying Three Miles of Metal per Day . . 50

Freighting in Supplies during the Winter . . 54

On the Portage . . . . . .60

Bush Fire sweeping through the Woods . . 80
A "Sink" in the Grade .... 114

An Exciting Moment at the Clover Bar Bridge . 114

Building a Wooden Trestle . . . .120

The "Stone-boat" . . . . .120

Quebec Bridge before the Accident . . .126

„ „ AFTER THE AcCIDENT . . .126

Freighting through the Bush . . . .138

Ferrying across the MacLeod River . . .140

The Eastern Entrance to the Rocky Mountains . 140

14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAOE

A Gigantic Geain Elevator . . . .144

Massive Steel Bridge Aceoss the South Saskatchewan

RivEE ...... 158

The Ribbon of Steel through the Cascades . . 162

A Railway Construction Camp . . . .184

Approaching the Main Range of the Rocky Moun-
tains ....... 194

Tete Jaune Cache ..... 204

Side Hill Excavations along the S keen a River . 218

The Forest as the Railway Builder found it .218

Railway Construction along the Skeena Rivee . 236

Surveyors Moving Camp ..... 256
"Station Men" at Work .... 256

A Marvel of Railway Engineeeing . . . 268

Railway Consteuction Steamee on the Skeena River 270
The Engineer's Conquest of the Cascade Mountains . 278
The Railway Builder's Heavy Artillery . . 282

Laying the Track by Machinery . . . 282

Ready for Traffic. A Finished Stretch of Line . 284
The Bulkley River Gorge .... 286

The Passage of the Track-layer . . . 292

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 15

FACING PAOK

A Land Slide ...... 296

Building the Clovee Bar Bridge . , . 304

Muskeg-filler at Work ..... 306

Setting the Bridge Span in the Battle River Viaduct 306
Preparing one Shore End of the Clover Bar Bridge 308
The Loftiest Bridge East of the Rocky Mountains . 310

THE MAKING OF A GKEAT
CANADIAN EAILWAY

CHAPTER I

THE BIRTH OF THE GRAND TRUNK PACIFIC RAILWAY

THE dawn of the twentieth century saw the Dominion
of Canada on the crest of a huge wave of pros-
perity. The north-west was in the grip of a boom, for
the potentialities of the great prairies, stretching away in
an almost unbroken expanse from the eastern borders of
Manitoba to the Rocky Mountains, had become realised
with a suddenness which was startling. Armies of settlers
from the United States and Europe were pouring into,
and running over, the country west of Winnipeg in all
directions, attracted by the irresistible magnet — wheat.
Probably no country in the world's history has ever
swept forward with such a rush ^s British North America,
and as the time slipped by, instead of the wave diminish-
ing, it increased in volume, and 'gave every indication of
being permanent so long as there was any land left to
be brought under the plough.

But the new arrivals were handicapped very heavily,
as they found to their cost. They could till the land, and
could raise their grain produce in plenty, but unless they
hugged the southern stretches of the country they could
not forward the prizes they wrested from the land to
market. There was only one railway through the country

B 17

18 A GREAT ORGANISER

to handle their goods, and consequently they were in the
hands of a monopoly, which, like all undisputed masters
of a situation, wielded its power in an autocratic manner.

Then suddenly a new personality loomed on the trans-
portation horizon, and the railway chess-board underwent
many startling changes. This disturbing influence was
Mr. Charles Melville Hays, who, when he first set foot in
Canada in 1899, was a complete stranger to the Dominion.
To-day his name is a household word from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. Within a decade he has accomplished as
much, if not more, than the majority of men achieve in
the whole of their lifetime. How he has changed the
map of Canada is one of the most fascinating romances
of modern times. Through his efforts a new agricultural
country, four times the area of the great wheat belt of
the United States, has been rescued from oblivion. The
veil of mystery has been torn from the northern stretches
of Ontario and Quebec, and a new land of Promise has
been revealed in northern British Columbia.

His mission to Canada in 1899 was somewhat curious.
The first railway built in the Dominion, the Grand Trunk,
had fallen on evil days. It was sunk low into the morass
of financial difficulty. Sir Charles Rivers Wilson, g.c.m.g.,
was called upon to rescue it from impending bankruptcy.
His administrative capacity enabled him to place his
finger upon the weak spot very readily. The railway
was operated from London, and controlled by men who
knew nothing whatever about local requirements. The
obvious remedy was a strong man at the head of affairs
on the spot : a man who was familiar with American con-
ditions and ways of doing things.

To find the man he required he was forced to search
the United States, as Canada at that time was deficient
in railway administrators. In this way his attention be-
came riveted upon Charles M. Hays, who was then trying
desperately to accomplish the seemingly impossible. The

HAYS AND HARRIMAN 19

Wabash Railway had sunk far more deeply into the
mire, than had the Grand Trunk Railway. Yet when
the new manager appeared on the scene this derelict
line was so galvanised into life as to bring prosperity
within a measurable distance. This was just the man
that the Grand Trunk Railway required, and overtures
were made to induce him to transfer his energies from
the United States to Canada. They proved successful,
and thereupon the " Little American," as Hays was
called popularly, assumed the reins of the pioneer iron
road of the northern neighbour.

His influence was experienced immediately. He was
given a free hand, and was supported strongly by the
I President in his campaign of overhaul. The result was
/ that the railway was snatched from bankruptcy and
once more set firmly on its feet. Some of the share-
holders received what they had despaired of ever seeing
again — dividends. The whole fabric was torn to pieces
and reconstructed piece by piece.

Scarcely had this upbuilding commenced when the
Huntingdon group, who saw the Southern Pacific Railway
falling into the slough of failure, offered Charles M. Hays
the Presidency of that system, in order to retrieve its
broken fortunes. Seeing that the topmost rung of the
railway ladder was within his grasp, it is not surprising
that Hays accepted the offer, especially as it was in
connection with one of the most important roads of his
native country. He resigned his position in Canada,
and once more was soon in the turmoil of overhauling a
moribund railway.

However, he had not been many months in his new
post before trouble arose. Harriman had secured control
of the Southern Pacific, and he and the new President
were soon at war. Harriman wanted to handle the
concern to meet his own financial ends, and regarded
President Hays, as he did all such officials upon his rail-

20 HAYS

ways,* as a mere pawn, in the game. The President,
on the other hand, who has been associated actively with
the upbuilding of railways all his life, declined to become
passive at the behest of the dictator, and to occupy
a sinecure. The upshot was that in disgust he tendered
his resignation. Thus Hays threw over the reins of the
Southern Pacific Railway.

The effect of his guiding hand, however, had been
missed sorely from the Grand Trunk Railway, where
there was serious danger of the undertaking relapsing
into a stage worse than the first. Sir Charles Rivers
Wilson, directly he heard of the pending rupture between
his old colleague and Harriman, approached the former,
requesting him to return to Canada, if he should resign
control of the Southern Pacific Railway. Consequently
Hays vacated the presidential chair of the one line to
assume control of his former charge, where there was un-
fettered scope for his abilities. That quarrel between
the railway financier, Harriman, and the railway organiser.
Hays, was one of the most fortunate circumstances for
Canada. But for their dispute the history of the Dominion
would have been written very differently.

While struggling with the Southern Pacific Hays had
been pondering deeply over the railway situation in
North America generally. When he saw his pending
return to the managership of the Grand Trunk Railway,
he devoted his spare time to the elaboration of a thought
that had flitted idly through his mind. The inherent
evils of the Canadian railway were possible of elimination,
inasmuch as they were attributable mainly to mismanage-
ment and errors in construction. By righting these
two factors a certain measure of success could be attained,
but the possibilities in this direction were restricted
severely. The railway system approximated between
6000 and 7000 miles in length, and spread to every corner*!
of Southern Ontario, the most prosperous and settled

ENGLISH FINANCIERS 21

province in Canada. But it was insulated. Rival lines
had been permitted to spring into existence, and to form
a frowning barrier on all sides, hemming in the pioneer
line. A great proportion of the revenue accruing from
through transportation of passengers and merchandise
had to be paid out to competing lines for conveyance to
points beyond the zone in which the older line operated.
The effect of this disadvantage was being experienced
heavily at that time, as the west, with its enormous
traffic, was just commencing to boom.

When Hays returned to Montreal, and hadf completed
his arrangements for removing the disciplinary and
physical defects incidental to the Grand Trunk Railway,
he hurried to London, and revealed his quondam idle
thought, which now had assumed definite shape, for solving
the problem which had occupied so much of his earnest
attention. The encircling competitive and strangling
barrier of lines must be broken down, and the necessity
for handing traflic over to rivals must be reduced to the
minimum. He explained his proposals in a minute,
lucid, and comprehensive manner. They were so daring
and extensive as to compel attention. A new feeder
for the Grand Trunk Railway was necessary, and this
could be designed in such a way as to offer an outlet
to the west. They were in touch already with the Atlantic,
so why should they not have an arm resting on the Pacific ?
He suggested building a new trans-continental railway,
stretching from coast to coast, running through new terri-
tory entirely, and capable of being linked up very easily
with the existing network in Southern Ontario. At the
same time he emphasised the necessity for establishing
a new port on the Pacific coast, which would offer them
unrestricted scope for future developments, and where
they could secure an unassailable dominating position.

It is a well-worn axiom that British financiers always
will entertain a railway transportation project favourably.

22 POLITICS IN THE GREAT SCHEME

being in fact more audacious and enterprising in operations
of this nature than Americans, despite the fact that the
latter are supposed generally to be more speculative in
matters of financial moment. Consequently the new idea
was regarded with interest. The crucial point, however,
was the feeling of the Canadian people in regard to the
scheme, and whether the country and the Government
representatives would extend to the undertaking the
necessary support.

As a matter of fact, politically there was little to fear.
The Liberal Government was in power, and the elaboration
of a new trans-continental railway was opportune. The
Conservative Party had sanctioned the Canadian Pacific,
and, what was more to the point, had stood by it whole-
heartedly at the very moment when it was on the verge
of collapse though only half completed. True, the Liberals
had criticised the Conservative policy in regard to that
enterprise most spiritedly. By giving the Liberal Party
the opjDortunity of fostering an even larger scheme after
its own heart, the latter would be able to show the Canadian
public how justifiable was its hostility towards the methods
practised in furthering the completion of the first trans-
continental road.

The new manager returned to Canada, having received
the approbation of his Directors, who undertook to secure
the requisite financial assistance if he could win the
Canadian public and Government to his side. The moving
spirit decided to feel the pulse of the public first.

The whole of the western country was canvassed
religiously by cautious myrmidons. No one knew for
whom they were working, or just what the scheme in
hand comprised, as it was revealed in a somewhat hazy
manner. Secret meetings were held in the cities, large
towns, villages, and even in the remote settlements.
Extreme caution had to be displayed to prevent any
tangible particulars of the undertaking reaching the

THE MAN BEHIND THE PROJECT 23

rival's ears, inasmuch as the Canadian Pacific regarded
the west as its own especial and undisputed preserve.
Had an inkling of the fact that the Grand Trunk Railway
was contemplating an invasion of the prairie leaked out,
competitive interests would have fought the project
tooth and nail, with a view to strangling it at its birth.

The whole action of sounding public opinion was con-
trived very skilfully. It was carried out more on the
lines of an agitation for a new trans-continental railway,
rather than a supporting propaganda for a scheme already
formulated. Consequently the rival line regarded the
matter as a perennial topic of academic discussion, and
reposed in a false sense of security.

However, the agitation accomplished its avowed pur-
pose. The meetings, once secrecy was thrown aside,
were crowded by earnest and hard-thinking farmers,
merchants, commercial princes, industrial magnates, and
what not. The demand for another line from coast to
coast was emphatic, and complete.

Such a line of action appears somewhat novel to British
methods, but one must recollect that in Canada things are
managed very differently from what obtains here. This
project was to develop into an acute political question,
to become the sport of an electoral campaign, and many
politicians have to obey the behests of certain vested
interests, since independence, or a line of thought con-
trary to the welfare of these influences, is certain to bring
about political extinction. After the first few meetings,
however, popular enthusiasm assured success for any
enterprise of this character. Supporters argued that
competition being the life-stream of business, a new coast-^?
to-coast railway was imperative.

The man behind the project, realising how matters
were shaping in accordance with his expectations, now
approached the Government. He laid his scheme in
detail before the Premier and his colleagues at Ottawa.

24 A CRITICAL ISSUE

They listened intently as they grasped the far-reaching
significance of the proposals. Finally Charles M. Hays
inquired, in his characteristic blunt manner, whether
the Liberal Party would stand beside the Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway as solidly and firmly as the Conservatives
had upheld the building of the first line across the conti-
nent ?

The Cabinet pondered deeply. It was a critical issue
from their point of view, and they realised that acquies-
cence in this demand would raise questions of national
importance ; that they would have to go to the people,
and would have to stand or fall by the proposal. But
the convincing testimony of public feeling which the
moving spirit offered as a result of his campaign in the
west clinched the subject, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier pledged
himself and his party to the support of the enterprise,
retaining to themselves the right to modify the scheme
according to what they considered advisable in the in-
terests of the nation.

Several weeks were expended in threshing out the
details of the scheme, the Directors with Mr, Hays ranging
themselves on one side, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier and his
advisers on the other. The particulars, especially those
of a financial character, were drawn up minutely, and
several concessions had to be made on either side. There
was one point on which the Liberal Party were as adamant.
They would extend no free grants of land such as had
been given to the first trans-continental railway. This
subvention was opposed absolutely to Liberal principles.
This constitutes the sole reason why the Grand Trunk
Pacific failed to obtain grants of land with its charter,
as did the former railway. Canada, like her next-door
neighbour, the United States, had suffered from the ill-
effects of such short-sightedness on one occasion, and was
resolved never to repeat the policy. Moreover, had the
Government presented several hundred thousand acres

A THRILL OF EXCITEMENT 25

of freehold to the new enterprise fringing the projected
steel highway, she would have parted with some of the
choicest land she possessed, as results have proved since.

The details completed to the satisfaction of all con-
cerned, no time was lost in proceeding with the pre-
liminary details. The London market was ripe for the
venture, and the British financial world viewed the project
with favour.

One morning Canada awoke to experience a thrill
of excitement from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
newspapers announced that^ a new trans-continental
railway was to be undertaken without delay, and that
the Grand Trunk Railway was supporting, and indeed
was responsible for, the enterprise. It was a bald state-
ment, conveyed to the Press by Mr. Hays himself over-
night, but from that moment he became the most dis-
cussed man in the Dominion, from Halifax to Vancouver,
and from Dawson City to Hudson's Bay. The public
clamoured for further information, and in response to
this agitation the prime mover's office in Montreal was
besieged by representatives of the Press, while telegrams
and letters rained in from all corners of the country.
But the thirst for further news went unassuaged. Charles
M. Hays had fled. After launching his bombshell he
had sped southwards to New York during the night,
and by the time Canada had recovered from its first
thrill he was on the broad Atlantic hurrying to London.
In despair the reporters turned to the Government,
but no satisfaction was to be gained in that quarter.

The fight now commenced in grim earnest. The
Canadian Pacific Railway, realising how completely it
had been outwitted by the astute " Little American,"
who had now become the " Biggest American " in the
Dominion, whipped up its forces. It foresaw the threaten-
ing of its supremacy in the west, and as the scheme was
digested recognised that its traffic was in danger of being

26 AN APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE

depleted to an appreciable extent. Consequently no
effort was spared to bring about the defeat of the new
project. The rival's representatives presented a solid
phalanx of opposition, and the Parliament Buildings
at Ottawa afforded the strangest spectacle of activity
in its history.

The ensuing few weeks were the most strenuous in the
annals of the Dominion. The Government went to the
people prepared to stand or fall by the idea, and the
election was one of the most keenly fought in the era of
Canadian politics. Critics rose up on all sides and at-
tacked the scheme with venomous hostility, one opponent
in describing the ominous outlook for the new venture
facetiously remarking that it " would have to borrow the
matches to light the fires in its locomotives for all the
revenue it could aspire to earn."

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, perhaps the strongest Premier
that the Dominion has ever possessed, came boldly into
the open. He gave the new enterprise his whole-hearted
support, and waged his fight with a strength and determina-
tion that surprised his most enthusiastic supporters,
and dismayed his most resolute opponents. In a moment
he swept public feeling to his side. The dawning Great
' West, which had been groaning under a monopoly, was
to be freed from its fetters ; the east was to be brought
into closer and more direct touch with the west. The
farmer would no longer be at the mercy of a railway
octopus. That competition which was so essential to
commercial prosperity was to be established. He at-
tracted popular support by stating that the Government
would build and own one half of the railway, while Imperial
sentiment was stimulated by the announcement that the
line was to pass exclusively through Canadian territory
from coast to coast, and would thus be an "All-red
Route." He lost many adherents from his complete
commitment to the scheme, but he gained a greater

SIR WILFRID LAURIER'S SUPPORT 27

number of supporters. As it proved, the Liberal Party
scarcely could have gone to the electorate with a more
powerful weapon, or a stronger plank in its platform.
The party was returned to power with an overwhelming
strength.

A considerable amount of opposition had been engineered
by interests in the United States which saw in the new
railway a stronger bid for independence, and the forging
of a stronger link with the British Empire. Some idea
of the solemn determination of the Government may be
gathered from the words of Mr. W. S. Fielding, Minister
of Finance, who, in arguing in favour of the new scheme,
remarked : "It is well that we should let our friends
across the border understand that whatever measure of
independence we now have we shall maintain, and that
we shall increase that measure of independence by the
link we are now proposing, and that, should the necessity
arise, we shall not shrink from providing another."

So far as London was concerned the Directors had lost
no time while the preliminaries were occupying so much
attention on the part of the Canadian people. The arrange-
ments for providing the first instalment of capital on
behalf of construction were concluded through two well-
known banking houses, Messrs. N. M. Rothschild and
Sons and Messrs. Speyer Brothers, the issue of bonds
being subscribed ten times over. The surveys likewise
were hurried forward, Mr. Hays enrolling his own staff
recruited from the finest men available for this peculiar
work in America and Europe. These arrangements had
to be modified somewhat upon the Canadian Government
undertaking to build one half of the line, the surveys
completed by the Grand Trunk Railway east of Winnipeg'^
being purchased subsequently by the Government for \
$352,191 or £70,438.

With regard to the Government support this assumed
tangible proportions. So far as the national section.

28 GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

stretching from Moncton to Winnipeg, a distance of 1801
miles, is concerned, the Government are defraying the
cost entirely. Upon completion it is to be leased to the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway for a period of fifty years,
in return for an annual rent representing 3 per cent
on the outlay. This only applies to the main line, as all
branch lines or feeders are to be constructed at the expense
of the company.

Bearing in mind the fact that national undertakings
proverbially are more expensive than similar works
completed by private enterprise, it may be thought
that this is a somewhat ambiguous arrangement, whereby
the company may be called upon to pay a rental upon a
sum quite out of proportion to the value of the line itself.
But as a matter of fact, capital cost cannot be inflated
unduly. Although " cost of construction " seems an
elastic phrase, in this case it is construed as meaning
the " most economical basis consistent with the building
of a first-class railway," such as it was decided to provide.
This affords adequate protection to the company, as
the chief engineer of the latter had the controlling voice
concerning specifications, which were submitted for
his approval before work was commenced. In other
words, he governs the question of expense and decides what
is a legitimate outlay for the achievement of the task.

However, as the line traverses new areas of country,
where development has to take place, and traffic has to be
created to provide the requisite income, the Government
has extended a period of seven years for this purpose,
during which term the company is not to be called upon
to pay any rent, but merely to defray the cost of main-
tenance or "working expenditure." At the end of that
period the rent becomes due, and is payable till the end
of the term. In the event, however, of the traffic not
becoming sufficiently remunerative to defray the rent,
then the difference between the sum paid and that due

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT 29

is to be added to the capital cost, and is to bear 3 per
cent interest per annum, after the first ten years of the
lease. By this arrangement the company secures the free
use of the line for seven years from the date it takes
the complete scheme over, the sole expenditure during
that period being on account of working expenses.

When the lease expires the Government has the option
of working the railway as a national concern, but should
the Government decide against this course, then the
company is entitled to a further lease of fifty years.
In the event of the first line of action being taken, the
company is to be permitted such running powers and
haulage rights as may be necessary to secure connection
between the Grand Trunk system and the lines west of
Winnipeg.

The only subvention the company has secured is that
from the Provincial Government of Ontario in respect
of the branch line 188 "8 miles in length, extending from
Fort William, at the head of Lake Superior, to Lake
Superior Junction on the national section of the railway,
245 miles east of Winnipeg. The construction of this
branch was attended by a subsidy of $2000 or £400 per
mile, with a land grant of COOO acres per mile.

The Government also decided to assist in the con-
struction of the Grand Trunk Pacific western section,
i.e. that from Winnipeg to the Pacific coast, the two
moieties of the line being known respectively as the
eastern and western divisions, with Winnipeg as the
central point. But in view of the fact that the first 916
miles west of Winnipeg traversed the plains, where the
physical characteristics offered no supreme obstacle
to construction, the western division was subdivided
into two sections, the first, extending to Wolf Creek,
bring known as the " Prairie Section," and the second,
leaching from Wolf Creek to Prince Rupert, as the " Moun-
tain Section." The whole of this western division is

30 UNANIMOUS ASSISTANCE

being constructed by the company, but the Government
are guaranteeing the First Mortgage Bonds, principal
and interest, to the extent of l?T3;O0O-orr'^6OO on the
" Prairie Section," for fifty years, and 75 per cent of the
cost of construction, whatever it may be, on the 840
miles of the " Mountain Section," where construction
is certain to be highly expensive, for a similar period,

11 the Grand Trunk Railway being responsible for guaran-
I teeing the bonds, principal and interest, of the balance
i of the cost of construction, similarly for fifty years.
The interest on this underwriting commences from
the time the road is completed and opened officially,
but during the first seven years of this period, owing
to the company having to create its traffic, the Govern-
ment is paying the interest on its guaranteed bonds con-
cerning the " Mountain Section " without calling on the
company for the money thus expended. Should the
company be unable to defray the interest during the
ensuing three years, the Government is to pay the same,
and upon the expiration of the first ten years any defaulting
interest incurred during the three years' grace is to be
added to capital and bear interest at 3 per cent.
Should the company meet with such misfortune as to
prevent it paying interest for any period of five years
after the first ten years have expired, the Government is
to co-operate with the company, and to their mutual
satisfaction a manager is to be appointed to direct the
undertaking. Then the net earnings are to be divided
between the holders of the Government guaranteed
bonds and those of the Grand Trunk Company's guaranteed
bonds in the proportion of 75 per cent to the former
and 25 per cent to the latter.

It will be seen that the people of Canada have, almost
unanimousl5% come to the assistance of this undertaking,
and the financial arrangement cannot be described as
other than equitable. It is a co-operation which tends

A COLOSSAL TASK 31

to secure all possible support for the enterprise, and the
substantial interest which the public possess therein
is certain to result in as much traffic as possible being
turned into this channel.

This was the manner in which an idle thought evolved
into the most stupendous railway constructional enter-
prise in the history of the iron road. To undertake 3543
miles of first-class railway as one concrete project repre-
sents a colossal task, especially when it is recalled that
at the time of its conception the population of the Dominion
did not exceed 6,000,000 souls. The Cape to Cairo may
be a more ambitious enterprise, but it is being built
in distinct units. The trans-Siberian line may be a longer
line, but it was attacked in sections, and pushed from
coast to coast. The completion of the formalities which
rendered the fulfilment of this vast Canadian project
possible is a striking tribute to the foresight and energy
of one man, Mr. Charles Melville Hays, who has earned
rightly the distinction of being the " Cecil Rhodes of
Canada," with the probability of seeing his dream realised
during his lifetime. Should the project be completed,
he will have the unique distinction of controlling the
greatest network of railways in the world, for the systems
of the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Grand Trunk Company
will aggregate no less than 16,550 miles.

CHAPTER II

THREADING NEW TREASURE LANDS FROM COAST TO COAST

WHEN the project made its bow to the public
it provoked considerable criticism, which for
the most part was of a pessimistic, if not of an avowedly
hostile, character. The line was too far to the north —
it traversed country beyond the limits of human en-
durance, so how could civilisation and development
take place ? How could the line hope to earn sufficient
to pay for the matches to light the fires in the locomotives?
By consulting the map cursorily such an argument
appears justifiable, for the eastern half of the line lies
entirely between the 45th and 50th, while the western
section runs between the 50th and 55th parallels. Twenty
years ago people who claimed the knowledge vehemently
protested that wheat could not be grown on the prairie
north of the 50th degree of latitude. But that fallacy
has been exploded completely. As a matter of fact,
the best grades of wheat, and the most arable land in
the Dominion adapted to cereals, lies beyond the long-
accepted northern limit. A great stretch of the country
south of this line is not adapted naturally to the raising
of crops — the country is sterile practically, and the
farmer has to resort to irrigation. But as one ventures
farther north the country is found to be watered more
freely, both by rivers and large lakes. Consequently
the soil is richer and more juicy, containing just those
constituents in plenty for the growth of grain under
the most promising conditions.

DORMANT WEALTH 33

Investigation of the dormant wealth of this land caused
the promoters of this enterprise to keep the line well
to the north, so as to open up a new country in the widest
sense of the word. That it has been a wise policy is
revealed by the results achieved already upon this " in-
hospitable prairie," as it was called deprecatingly. A
new grain-growing country aggregating in area some
300,000,000 acres was discovered. It is difficult to say
just how far north this great agricultural belt extends,
but it is to a point well beyond the 55th parallel. In
fact, some of the finest wheat the farmer could ever hope
to harvest is raised on the shores of Hudson's Bay.

More astonishing, perhaps, is the wonderful development
that is taking place in the extreme west. During my
recent journey across the continent I came face to face
with an unusual spectacle. Prairie schooner after prairie
schooner — the quaint western springless, horse-drawn
waggon — laden to breaking-point, and handled by grim,
sturdy pioneers, was pushing northward from Edmonton
and a dozen other points beyond along the uncompleted
section of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway so far as
Edson. What was their destination ? Why, the Peace
River country, some 700 miles north of the Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway. It appeared incredible, but, as a matter
of fact, a far richer, and far more attractive, agricultural
country than that between the 50th and 55th parallels
has been found beyond the latter. And this new territory
is self-supporting. The Hudson's Bay Company has
known of its value for years, and at one of its posts
has a flour-mill at work. Everything grows there in
abundance. At Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabaska,
near latitude 60, a temperature of 100 degrees in the
shade is recorded frequently for days and nights con-
tinuously. It is the land of the eighty-five-day wheat. This
country has been neglected for so many years only be-
cause there were no railway facilities. At the Centennial

34 A RICH COUNTRY

Exposition held in Philadelphia so far back as 1876
the first prize for wheat was carried off by an exhibit
raised at Fort Chipewyan, and the successful winner,
hale and hearty, is yet a familiar figure at this remote
outpost of civilisation. Farther north still, at Fort Ver-
milion, a similar condition of affairs exists. For nearly
thirty years this Land of Promise was forgotten com-
pletely. To-day, however, the pioneers are pouring
into the territory fringing the mighty Peace River, where
the Government has reserved some 10,000,000 acres for
the daring homesteader, simply because they have heard
that the Grand Trunk Pacific intends to traverse the
territory. The first trek arose from the surveying en-
gineers devoting so much energy and time to the survey
of the Peace River Pass as a possible gateway for the
railway to the Pacific coast, a route which was abandoned
only after prolonged deliberations, and for strategical
reasons, in favour of the Yellowhead Pass.

The extraordinary influx of settlers to the new country
opened in the west by this railway, which is without a
parallel on the North American Continent, has been
attended by a curious sequel which demonstrates the
inconsistency of human nature. The very people who
ten years ago assailed the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
for locating its line so extensively north, to-day are
asking why the line was not placed still closer towards
the Arctic Circle !

So far as British Columbia is concerned, a similar
condition of affairs was responsible for the coast being
gained at what appears to be a remote and inaccessible
point, A decade ago this territory was regarded as a
closed book. The atlases of the closing years of the last
century describe it as a country only adapted to trapping
and hunting, with locomotion by canoe in summer,
which was very short, and by dog-sleigh and snow-shoes
in winter, which was stated to be long and severe. As

PHYSICAL DIFFICULTIES 35

a matter of fact, the winter in these northern latitudes
is far milder than that experienced in the northern United
States — the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The
northern coast washed by the Pacific, like Great Britain,
is benefited by a phenomenon of Nature which tempers
the rigours and severity of winter. In the case of the
British Isles it is a warm river of water from the tropical
Gulf of Mexico ; in the case of northern British Columbia
and Alaska it is a warm current of air — the Japanese
Chinook wind. So far-reaching are the results of this
favourable factor, that, in some parts of New British
Columbia, stock can graze in the open the whole year
round, while many lakes are free from ice in midwinter.

In reality the most inhospitable country traversed
by the railway is that comprised in the northern stretches
of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. But the line
was kept well to the north for several reasons. In the
first place, the country adjacent to the Great Lakes
is extremely cold during the winter, which here is Arctic
indeed in its severity. Then again, the land is broken
extremely both by rock and water in the vicinity of Lake
Superior. The engineers engaged in building the Canadian
Pacific found the comparatively short stretch between
Port Arthur and Sudbury so beset with tremendous
difficulties that they well-nigh despaired of ever getting
through. The task was far more arduous than that of
penetrating the formidable Rocky, Selkirk, and Cascade
Mountains, while the cost ran to a very high figure per
mile.

When the Grand Trunk Pacific was conceived it was
resolved to profit by the experience accumulated while
building the first trans-Canadian railway, and consequently
the line was kept well inland. By so doing full advantage
was taken of physical conditions. The land slopes some-
what abruptly from its greatest height to the shores of
Lake Superior. On the opposite side it shelves very

36 ICE AND FROST

gradually to James Bay, the large indent on the southern
shores of Hudson's Bay. Then again, the climate was
found to be milder on the north than on the south side
of this rocky wall, while the coldness experienced was
found to be due, in a very great measure, to the locked-up
condition of the country, for the forest is dense and
practically interminable. The sun being unable to pene-
trate the vegetation is denied the possibility of shedding
its genial warmth upon the soil, with the result that
Jack Frost reigns supreme virtually the whole j^ear
round, the soddened, thick layer of decayed vegetation
constituting the top soil jdelding solid ice but a few feet
below the surface on midsummer's day !

This fact was demonstrated to me in a convincing
manner by one of the engineers. It was the middle of
June — the longest day was scarcely a week distant —
and the engineer drove his spade into the peaty mass.
As he dug down he turned up thin layers of solid ice,
the water in all the pockets being frozen solid. We were
in the dark, dense forest, and although the sun in the
open was unbearable, beneath the trees the temperature
was that of an ice-well. The sun's rays had not touched
this ground possibly for scores of years — certainly not
since the young trees which sprang up after the fire
which, according to Indian legend, devastated the whole
of Western Ontario, once more shut in the ground beneath.

Such a state of affairs may appear alarming, but the
same conditions prevailed when the railway engineers
entered Southern Ontario in the 'sixties to build the
first link in what is now the Grand Trunk Railway system.
Ice and frost held the country the whole year round
beneath the branches of the trees, yet in that country
peaches, grapes, and other delicate fruits now are grown
prolifically in the open air. And the same metamorphosis
is being wrought in the northern stretch of the province
pierced by the new trans-continental railway.

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THE ''HEIGHT OF LAND " 37

The maximum altitude between the Great Lakes and
James Bay, however, is not excessive. North Bay Junction,
on Lake Nipissing, Hes 654 feet above the sea. Travelling
northwards practically in a straight line over the Temis-
kaming and Northern Ontario Railway, the " height of
land " is gained 18 miles beyond, and then only represents
1222 feet above sea-level. The highland plateau continues
for about 70 miles with an almost imperceptible declination
northwards, followed by a slightly sharper descent and
rise, spread over 70 miles, to an altitude of about 1000
feet, whence there is a steady fall, so slight as to be practi-
cally inappreciable, for about 245 miles to the shores of
James Bay, the country throughout being gently undu-
lating. By setting the line of the Grand Trunk Pacific
Railway apparently so far north, therefore, advantage
was taken of the configuration of the country, which
lends itself to the construction of a road-bed fluctuating
so slightly and gradually as to be almost level.

Apart from the excellence and location of the route
through wholly new country presenting golden oppor-
tunities for development, and obviating the necessity
of dividing any revenue arising therefrom with a com-
peting railway, a more startling proposition was decided
upon. Hitherto trans-continental railways on the Ameri-
can continent had been built in a somewhat haphazard
manner. The line was generally pushed through the
country as quickly as possible, following the path of least
resistance, and without any due regard to grades and
curves. Construction itself was of the roughest description,
comprising merely the raising of the requisite longitudinal
ridge on the crown of which the metals were laid roughly.
The idea was to reduce the initial expenditure, and then
to overhaul and improve the line to meet the exigencies
of increasing traffic. But it is a highly expensive process
notwithstanding, inasmuch as overhauling entails an
expenditure sufficient to rebuild the original line three

38 FALLACY OF THE OLD PROCEDURE

or four times over. Nowadays it is difficult to improve
the standard of a railway track built indifferently in
the first instance hand-in-hand with the march of progress
in locomotive practice.

But Charles Melville Hays had been drilled in the new
school, and had learned the fallacy of such procedure.
It had been responsible in a great measure for the de-
cadence of the many lines whose prosperity he had been
called upon to resuscitate. Moreover, he had taken
the late President Cassatt's famous dictum, " the Straight
level line wins," seriously to heart, and that it was profit-
ably successful his experience in overhauling the Grand
Trunk Railway has shown conclusively. Consequently,
when the new scheme was launched, he resolved to make
it a model railway in every respect, and that first cost
should be last cost. The British railways were his models,
and he strove to build such a line in the first instance.
He was warned that it would prove terribly expensive,
and that it would be feasible to build a line sufficient
for present-day requirements for a third of the cost.
But he was supported by his Directors, and fortunately
the Canadian Government saw eye-to-eye with him.

The result was that a high-grade specification was
drawn up, and this is being fulfilled strictly to the letter,
though it is involving the expenditure of millions to
achieve the ideal. Also it has prolonged the time required
for the consummation of the work, for circumstances
have developed which no human effort could foresee,
and which are inseparable from an undertaking of such
a magnitude as this. Two features in connection with
the line stand out very decisively — grades and curvatures.
Nothing ate so ravenously into railway earnings as these
two adverse elements, and one defect is almost as dis-
astrous as the other. The former militates against the
individual haulage capacity of a locomotive and train,
while the second affects speed.

AN IRREDUCIBLE MINIMUM 39

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway called for the irre-
ducible minimum in both cases. Grades were not to
exceed four-tenths of 1 per cent, or 21 '12 feet per mile,
while no curves were to be sharper than four degrees,
that is of 1432*5 feet radius. These desiderata were
criticised severely. Although it was admitted that such
might be perfectly feasible on the prairie, critics main-
tained that such a grade through the Rockies and Cascades
was a sheer physical impossibility. Consequently there
was a general feeling that though the Grand Trunk Pacific
might cherish the desire for a grade of only 21 "12 feet
per mile through the mountains, they would be lucky
indeed if, when they came to close grips with Nature in
that country, they escaped with grades easier than 52*8
feet per mile. But the critics have been confounded !
The railway threads the mountains with a " ruling " grade
of 21*12 feet per mile, against both east and west-bound
traffic. How this easy pathway through such forbidding
mountainous masses as the Rockies and Cascades was
discovered is related in subsequent chapters.

This fight for low grades on the North American conti-
nent is one of the most salient characteristics incidental
to railway engineering in that country, and rises not
exceeding 52*8 feet per mile have been sought diligently.
This rise appears insignificant, especially when compared
with some of the grades upon existing trans-continental
railways, which range up to 4 per cent, or 208 feet
per mile. As a matter of fact, the maximum or " ruling "
grade is vital to railway economics. It governs the hauling
capacity of a single locomotive in a train district or division.
For instance, suppose on this division, measuring about
120 miles in length, there are stretches of level track
broken up by banks having a rise of 1 per cent or 52*8
feet per mile. On the level sections the engine can haul,
say, thirty trucks or cars, but whenever it reaches the
1 per cent bank, which is beyond its capacity, one of

40 AN IRREDUCIBLE MINIMUM

two methods has to be adopted. The train either has to
be divided or assisted up the bank by another engine.
In any case, the cost of operation is increased to a certain
extent. The efficiency of the hne is reduced to what load
the single, unaided engine can handle on the 1 per
cent grade. This factor has been demonstrated very
strikingly upon the " Big Hill " of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, which lies between Hector and Field in the
Kicking Horse Pass. This bank, 4| miles in length,
had a rise of as much as 4 '4 per cent ; that is to say, 232
feet to the mile. In order to overcome this bank it was
no unusual sight to see as many as three or four loco-
motives laboriously hauling and pushing a train at a
mere crawl, whereas elsewhere a single engine could
handle the load satisfactorily. In course of time the
existence of this " heavy pull " became such a drag upon
the efficiency of the railway that it was decided to reduce
it. As a result the Canadian Pacific Railway was re-
aligned through the Kicking Horse Pass at a cost of
$1,250,000, or £250,000. By the execution of a striking
piece of engineering work the " Big Hill " was doubled
in length, but its gradient was reduced by just one-half.

Coming to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, a striking
illustration of the economic value of the 21 "12 feet per
mile graded based upon actual and practical results can
be given. The Inter- Colonial Railway, extending through
the lower provinces of Canada from Montreal to the coast,
has a " ruling " grade of 1 per cent. For our purpose
we will take a locomotive of the consolidated type weigh-
ing 107 tons, or, as it is technically expressed, " with
53 tons on the driving wheels." This is not the largest
type of locomotive used to-day on Canadian railways,
but being one in extensive vogue is the best for the pur-
pose of this comparison. Such an engine can haul, over
a grade of 1 per cent — 52 "8 feet per mile — a train
representing a weight of 810 tons. Yet on the level the

THE QUESTION OF GRADIENT 41

same locomotive can handle a train-load of 3869 tons.
In other words, the existence of the 1 per cent grade
reduces the hauling capacity of the engine by more
than 75 per cent. Now place the same train on the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway with its grades of four-
tenths of 1 per cent, and a marked difference is notice-
able. The hauling capacity of the engine is increased
to 1596 tons. That is to say, by reducing the severity
of the bank from 52-8 feet to 21*12 feet per mile, the
hauling capacity of the engine is double, practically,
that on the former, and slightly less than one-half of
the maximum possible under the most favourable con-
ditions— a perfectly level track. From this the significance
of the easy grade may be realised, and it is possible to
comprehend why the railway engineer of to-day strives
so valiantly for the easy-level line.

The stipulations set out by the powers responsible for
the realisation of this new trans-continental railway
were therefore of a very stringent character, and presented
an exacting task to the surveyors. Yet it was found
possible to meet the demands of the moving spirit almost
in their entirety. Here and there the physical conditions
were such as to render it exceedingly perplexing, unless
a fabulous amount of money were spent. Then the
question arose as to whether the easy grade was worth
the heavy outlay demanded. For instance, the rise
westward from the city of Quebec, owing to the geo-
graphical situation of this port, is exceedingly abrupt.
The surveyors could fulfil the official fiat, and offered a
route within the four corners of the limitations, but such
would lengthen the mileage by some 19 miles. Also,
when the matter was investigated it was found that it
would cost $500,000, or £100,000, and add something
like §750,000, or £150,000, in capitalised operating value
than an alternative, shorter route having a steeper grade.
The insertion of the latter approximately entailed a

42 THE QUESTION OF GRADIENT

rise of 1 in 90 for a distance of 10 miles, acting adversely
against traffic flowing towards the Atlantic.

Again, in New Brunswick another similar situation
arose. By the introduction of a grade averaging 58 feet
per mile for a distance of some 12 miles, the route could
be shortened by 17 miles, $2,000,000, or £400,000, could
be saved in constructional costs, together with $1,250,000,
or £250,000, in capitalised operating value. The matter
was threshed out thoroughly in all its bearings, and
finally it was decided to introduce these two steeper
grades temporarily. Should they be found to react
too adversely upon the working efficiency of the line,
then the track could be rebuilt over the easier, longer
route at leisure, and thereby bring the whole into uni-
formity. In the Rockies the issue once more reappeared.
The descent from the summit level in the Yellowhead
Pass has to follow the Fraser River from its tributary
source in Yellowhead Lake. The river drops so suddenly
and continuously during 50 miles that it was found
physically impossible to preserve the easy grade through-
out the whole distance, inasmuch as Tete Jaune Cache
must be reached in order to enter the Fraser River Valley.
A short section of 1 per cent grade adverse to traffic
flowing from the Pacific has had to be introduced. In
each instance one additional engine stationed at the foot
of the bank will suffice to help the train over these " pusher
grades," as they are called.

In the early trans-continental railways, in order to
preserve the grade across deep, wide valleys, extensive
recourse was made to timber trestling. It was decided
that such should be eliminated entirely from the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway, owing to the dangers of destruction
and possible accidents from fire, and also because of the
relatively short life of such structures. Steel and concrete
were to be used exclusively. In the course of building
the western section of the line, however, this decision

THE QUESTION OF GRADIENT 43

had to be modified slightly to meet peculiar and unex-
pected conditions. It was found absolutely impossible
to secure the delivery of the requisite steel-work on time,
so, instead of delaying the progress of the railway, the
depressions have been spanned in certain instances by
timber trestles. Such, however, are purely temporary,
and so fast as the steel-work can be brought up, the
metallic structures are being erected, the timber used
temporarily being buried beneath millions of cubic yards
of ballast brought at leisure from different points.

CHAPTER III

The Reconnaissance in the Wilderness and how the
Railway Line was Discovered

THE first step in this great work was the reconnaissance,
the surveyors being deputed to run rapidly through
the country so as to secure a general impression of the
topography, and the direction the line should take to
secure the requisite alignment in point of easy grades
and curvature. This in itself was a daring piece of work.
It entailed scouting through a vast territory some 1800
miles in width, the greater part of which was unknown.
In fact, at that time more was known about the land
lying around the North Pole than of the northern stretches
of Ontario and Quebec. True, there were Government
maps, but the knowledge they contained was confined to
the country lying immediately contiguous to the great
rivers, which could be followed from their junction with
the St. Lawrence for hundreds of miles up-country. But
as these rivers ran at right-angles to the route which the
line was to follow, this information was of slight utility.

Then there was another perplexing problem — the
entrance to this northern territory. For the most part
it was absolutely inaccessible. It was foreseen that at
some places in Ontario the reconnoitring forces would be
called upon to carry out their work some three or four
hundred miles beyond the limits of civilisation. So far
as the Lower Provinces were concerned, the reconnaissance
was not beset with such grave difficulties. New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia are the two oldest settled and most

DISILLUSION 45

developed provinces in the Dominion, and although at
places the scouts were obliged to push their way through
country where the traj^per and lumber- jack reigned
supreme, still they were never many miles beyond the
pale of civilisation and settlement.

On the other hand, in the unknown inaccessible northern
stretches of Ontario and Quebec the Indian still held
undisputed sway. Here and there were Hudson's Bay
trading posts, which constituted convenient centres,
for the famous Fur Company has a splendid system of
intercommunication between its isolated posts and Mon-
treal. But it was necessary for the surveyors to gain
points far remote from such diminutive civilised points
in the wilds, and to carry out their work buried in the
depths of the forest with its impressive feeling of isolation.

The average person speaks lightly about the backwoods
of Canada and their fascinating glamour when discussing
the subject from the perspective of a few thousand miles
in a cosy arm-chair, and without personal knowledge of
the topographical conditions. But when one, like myself,
has penetrated the wilderness, has torn the veil of romance
and adventure aside roughly, revealing prodigious diffi-
culties of every description, perils untold, privations un-
heard of, and a silence and loneliness that bludgeons the
senses into inactivity, then the picture assumes a totally
different aspect and colouring.

In order to obtain a faint idea of the prospect that
confronted those entrusted with the reconnaissance,
conceive a vast country rolling away in humps, towering
ridges, and wide-yawning valleys as far as the eye can see,
and with the knowledge that the horizon can be moved
onwards for hundreds of miles without bringing about any
welcome break in the outlook. On every hand is the
interminable forest, a verdant sea, except where here and
there jagged splashes of black and brown betoken that the
fire fiend has been busily at work. The trees swinging

46 SWAMPS AND FORESTS

wave-like before the breeze conceal dangers untold
beneath their heavy blanket-like branches, the existence
of which are beyond contemplation until one is brought
to close grips with them.

Here it is a swamp whose viscous, treacherous mass
stretches for mile after mile to all points of the compass,
until it attains an area sufficiently large to absorb an
English county. There it is a litter of jagged rock as if
Nature had been at play with the mountains, and after
pulverising their solid masses had tossed the debris
promiscuously on every hand. Covered with slippery,
decaying vegetation their surfaces are as dangerous as
orange peel on an asphalt pavement, and a slight slijD may
result easily in an ugly contusion or a badly broken limb.
Could one survey the scene of solemn grandeur presented
by the vegetation from a coign of vantage, nothing could
be seen of the maze of fallen tree trunks, levelled by wind,
water, and fire, piled up beneath the trees to a height of
ten, fifteen, and twenty feet in an inextricable mass,
and over which one has to make one's way with infinite
labour, menaced with danger to life and limb.

The forest is trackless save for narrow pathways,
some of which are scarcely distinguishable, and all merely
inches in width, wandering in apparent aimlessness
through the gloom to one knows not whither. Maybe
they come to a dead stop on the brink of a gulch, at the
bottom of which a broad river is tearing along fiendishly.
The opposite bank is one's objective, and there is no
bridge to afford communication. In order to cross one
must be dependent upon individual resource in con-
triving a flimsy vehicle, and even when afloat one must
possess considerable presence of mind and skill in battling
with the fierce current, sunken jagged rocks, snags,
timber jams, sandbars, roaring rapids and whirlpools.
One carries his life in his hands the whole time, certain
in the knowledge that at any moment he may be called

FIGHT WITH NATURE 47

upon to battle for his life when his bark comes to grief
and disappears from beneath his feet.

One cannot wander far from the trail beaten down by
the moccasined feet of the Indian without having to fight
his way foot by foot with the axe, for the bush stands up
impregnable, and bristling with snags. Advance must
be made warily to avoid sudden immersion in a swamp,
while if astride a pack-horse he must be ever on the alert
to spring clear the moment one's mount gets into diffi-
culties. In summer the ground is well-nigh impassable, for
it is as soft and treacherous as quicksand, and advance is
reckoned in yards per hour. In winter, when the ooze has
become hardened by the grip of frost, and snow has
covered the whole with a thick pall, progress is easier
and more rapid. But winter brings fresh dangers peculiarly
its own. There is the blinding blizzard, the relentless
drift, the slush which superficially appears sufficiently
strong to withstand one's weight, but collapses beneath
one's feet and leaves one floundering waist-high in a
freezing slough. Then there is the cold — the pitiless
low temperature which penetrates the thickest clothing,
for when the thermometer is hovering about 35 degrees
or more below zero, supreme ingenuity is required to
keep the blood circulating through one's veins, and to
avoid that terrible enemy, frost-bite.

Not a sound breaks the eternal silence beyond the
sighing of the wind through the trees, the rifle-like crack
of a dead, gaunt monarch as it crashes to the ground,
or the howl of the wolf. Not a soul is met save a stray
Indian or a trapper at rare intervals. Should accident
or disaster befall one, news thereof would not trickle
through to the outside world for months, if it ever did
at ail.

Such was the country which the surveyors were called
upon to explore, from which the veil of mystery was to
be torn, and thrust farther back towards the Arctic

48 THE ENGINEER-IN CHIEF

Circle. It was an appallingly forbidding prospect, and
reconnoitring demanded men of exceptional calibre and
perfection in their work. They were selected with infinite
care by ISir. Hugh Lumsden, who was appointed the
engineer-in-chief over the Government division. His
unique experience in connection with the location of
railways, and his extensive knowledge of the conditions
against which the men were likely to be pitted, contributed
in no small measure to the complete success with which
the surveys were carried through.

For the sake of convenience the round 1800 miles
between Moncton and Winnipeg were subdivided into
sections, averaging about 314 miles in width apiece.
Those in the more settled districts were somewhat larger,
in order to reduce the mileage in the more inaccessible
country. A responsible, accomplished engineer was
placed in charge of each district, under direct control
of the chief at Ottawa. By this arrangement Mr. Lumsden
was enabled to keep survey work in progress over the
whole 1800 miles at various points simultaneously, and
the location of the line was brought to a satisfactory
conclusion within the shortest possible time. When the
work was in full swing there were forty-five surveying
parties in the field, each comprising a small colony of
eighteen men, so that a total scouting army of 810 men
was scattered over half of the Dominion busily engaged
in plotting the path for the railway.

The reconnaissance, however, was the most adventurous
part of the undertaking, inasmuch as the men, for freedom
of action and celerity in movement in this phase of the
operations, had to be equipped as lightly as possible.
They were given a roving commission, for in addition
to pushing their way directly through the country along
the route which the authorities wished to follow, and
which was indicated in its broad lines, they had to wander
for 50 to 100 miles over the land on either side.

GOVERNMENT MAPS 49

For the purpose of the reconnaissance only those
possessed of robust constitutions, abundant resource,
fearlessness, and, above all, to the manner born in regard
to locating railways, were selected. One and all possessed
what is called " an eye to the country," that is, the in-
herent ability perfected by prolonged experience to indicate
the broad path of the line from hurried observation.
Moreover, they were capable of finding their way any-
where, irrespective of conditions, had no fear of being
lost, and even if such should happen, possessed the ability
to extricate themselves from their unfortunate position,
and were able to pick up once more the line of their work.
They had to be prepared to pull themselves from tight
corners time after time, contented to rough it to the most
acute degree, and not to be dismayed when compelled
to subsist on short rations.

To facilitate rapid movement the surveyor reduced
his encumbrance to the minimum. Generally he was
accompanied by one assistant, and possibly one or two
other men to extend aid when required. Their instruments
comprised aneroid barometers to take and record altitudes,
a compass to give direction, while distance either was
estimated or paced. Moving rr.pidly through the country,
they became acquainted with its general physical charac-
teristics and of the difficulties which would have to be
overcome in construction ; and noted the approximate
situations of swamps, rivers, lakes, and so forth, and
whether the country was forest, open, or rocky. When
they came to a river they had to cross it as best they
could, fashioning rude rafts from dead logs, which were
lashed together, and in which they poled their way across
the waterway. The latter always was exciting, for the
Canadian waterways are so treacherous that a thrill
may be expected confidently at every turn.

There was one adverse circumstance which these
reconnoitring surveyors realised before they had pro-

50 PRELIMINARY LINES

ceeded very far. This was the utter unreliability of the
Government maps which they carried. These had been
prepared only perfunctorily, and upon the flimsiest in-
formation. Rivers were indicated in the wrong places,
lakes shown where they did not exist, while blanks repre-
senting apparent dry land were found to be broken up
with sheets of water and creeks. These maps were dis-
carded in disgust, the surveyors compiling their own as
they advanced. Consequently, in addition to investi-
gating the country in the search for the location of the
line, these little colonies contributed materially to the
geographical knowledge of the unknown interior by their
cartographic work.

The reconnaissance having been completed, the pre-
liminary lines were run. Now, although the length of
the line through a certain district may represent only,
say, a matter of 100 miles of construction, possibly four
lines representing from three to six times that mileage
were prepared by the surve3^ors before the most advan-
tageous route was found. For instance, to decide one
section of approximately 290 miles, 1535 miles of ex-
ploration were made, and 1521 miles of preliminary lines
were driven. In another case 1080 miles of exploration
were carried out, while 1064 miles of preliminary lines
were run to obtain a length of 433 miles of the completed
line. Before the precise direction of the line between
Moncton and Winnipeg was decided definitely, giving a
railway 1801 miles in length, the surveyors carried out
over 10,000 miles of exploration, preliminary and location
lines, in the search for the most satisfactory route from
all points of view.

In prosecuting the second stage in the survey the chief
surveying-engineer was accompanied by the rest of his
party ; the work was carried out more thoroughly ;
distances were measured by the chain, while the transit
and level were brought into requisition to ascertain levels.

THE FIRST LOCATION 51

Though this work had to be carried out carefully, yet
extreme exactitude was not demanded, but just sufficient
knowledge to enable the next step to be made profitably.

The preliminaries finished, the " first location," that
is a possible route for the line, was made. The party, at
full strength of eighteen all told, now moved along very
carefully from point to point. In addition to the chief
surveyor and his assistant, with the transit, there were
the leveller, topographer, draughtsman, rodman, picket
man, two chainmen, a number of axemen to clear the
way, and last, but by no means least, the cook, upon
whose culinary skill the harmonious working and general
content of the little colony depended to a far greater
degree than appears to the eye.

As the men proceeded with their first location the
work was committed to paper, the profile of the country
and the line being drawn exactly to scale on the spot,
while full information concerning the character of the
country, its geographical formation, sites for bridges,
and so forth were set out in detail, so that some estimate
of the cost of construction might be obtained.

In addition to plotting the line the surveyor also had
to fulfil another very important function. It is not suf-
ficient that a railway merely should cross a country ;
it must possess a certain amount of possible economic
value to contribute to the revenue and earning capacity
of the road. As a result the surveyor had to give compre-
hensive information as to whether the country on either
side of each " first location " offered any attraction to
commercial development from either the agricultural,
mineralogical, or any other point of view. In short,
he had to supply not only a route for the line, but an
encyclopaedia upon the possible resources of the country
traversed as well.

Several " first locations " were prepared in this manner,
and the work was forwarded once a month to the

52 GRADES AND CURVATURES

engineer-in-chief at Ottawa. The latter minutely inves-
tigated every drawing with the assistance of his first
lieutenant, deducing the advantages and disadvantages
of each respective route submitted.

The chief engineer had given each surveyor explicit
printed instructions to keep within grades of 1 in 250
against eastbound, and 1 in 200 against westbound,
traffic. The maximum curvature allowed was 4 degrees,
or a radius of 1433 feet. If the surveyor found it impossible
to keep within these limits, he indicated the fact plainly.
In some instances the topography of the country was
adverse to the official requirements in point of curvature,
but an alternative was suggested here and there with
a curve of 955 feet radius. The chief engineer alone had
the power to decide any departures from the standards
laid down. These, however, were reduced to the very
smallest number, and it is only here and there that they
are encountered.

From the alternative four, eight, or twelve first loca-
tions the chief at Ottawa made his ultimate selection,
being guided in his judgment by the report of the chief
surveyor of the district in question, who indicated what,
in his judgment, was the best location, and whose opinion,
seeing that he was on the spot, was generally respected.
But before giving his final decision, the chief surveyor
of the district was changed, and his suggested best location
was handed over to another man to improve if he could.
When the latter had completed his task, the amended
location was given to a third man or possibly returned
to the original surveyor for further improvement. In
this way not only was the best route available secured,
but a healthy rivalry and determination to excel stimulated
the men. Many a young surveyor plodding steadily along
with his daily task suddenly found himself thrust into a
responsible position, and called upon to attempt to
improve the work of a far more experienced surveyor.

HARD WORK 53

If he acquitted himself well on the task promotion was
his certain reward.

But the work was hard, and it told upon more than
one young fellow, whose spirit was willing, but whose
constitution was not hardened sufficiently to withstand
the rigours of the northern climate and arduous working
in the field, perhaps in ten feet of snow, and with the
thermometer at 40 below zero. Winter brought no
cessation of duty, no interruption in the work. In one
instance the party had a very trying time. They were
engaged in getting over a range where the snow fell to
a depth of six feet, but would not harden. The result
was that they had to wade through the mass up to their
waists, and under such conditions advance was slow
and highly fatiguing, while snow-blindness or frost-bite
was a very probable return for intrepidity. In this case
the thermometer decided to descend to an unprecedented
level while plotting was in hand by notching 45 and nearly
55 degrees below zero.

The greatest difficulties arose when it became necessary
to strike camjD and move to another fixed point. The
party had to turn out with axes, and hack and cleave
a road through the dense wood to gain their next centre,
the goods and chattels being transported in sleighs and
toboggans which they had to fashion themselves. Nothing
short of a blizzard brought work to a stop, and even
then, if there were any possibilities of achieving some-
thing, the men were out from early morning to late at
night.

On the western section, especially between Lakes
Abitibi, Nipigon, and Winnipeg, the work proved par-
ticularly exhausting, for this is probably the most tumbled
and broken stretch of country in the whole Dominion,
the mountains notwithstanding. In the winter the cold.
is intense, while during the early sunmier, owing to the
excess of water, advance is extremely arduous and

54 A GALLING OBSTACLE

dangerous. One district party wrestled with bristling
Nature continuously for month after month, meeting
an acute problem in the form of huge muskeg — stretches
of decayed vegetable matter, saturated with water,
strongly reminiscent of a peat bog. On the surface
they appear stable enough, but when one ventures on
they gently subside beneath the feet like a soddened
sponge. The surveyor was informed that it was only
from 4 to 6 feet in depth, but when he came to close
investigation he found that soundings could be carried
to a depth of 38 feet without giving any signs of the bottom
being reached.

For some sixteen months without a break they en-
deavoured to overcome this bad stretch of country, and
at the end of that period the members of the party,
suffering from the ill-effects of their prolonged seclusion
in the wilds, were compelled to return to civilisation.
Trouble was expected in this territory, for the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway resolved to profit from the ex-
perience of the building of the Canadian Pacific. The
latter blundered into the Julius muskeg, which proved
to be a galling obstacle. Thousands of tons of rock were
dumped into this swamp, but it appeared to be insatiable,
and the final cost of overcoming the difficulty rendered
this stretch of railway among the most expensive of the
whole system to build.

When the task was first put in hand young surveyors
saw the golden opportunity to win their spurs with the
transit and level in the consummation of this great under-
taking. The adventure and romance incidental to work
in an unknown country spurred them on. They were
enrolled and sent up-country ; but they met with hardships
they never expected. They had to assist in cutting their
way through the forest, and toiling afoot for 60 to
100 miles, and blazing the trail as one goes is heart-
rending work. Many, despite the fact that they had signed

3 5

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,- B S

5 = 5

"2 *

2 " >
;;t3 o
. =-c

DISHEARTENING CONDITIONS 55

contracts carrying them to the completion of the work,
never reached their sphere of occupation at all, but turned
back when they realised what the character of the con-
ditions were.

Others, who reached their parties, refused to perform
duties outside their particular province, and inasmuch
as in such an undertaking one and all must contribute
towards the comfort and well-being of the colony, such
malcontents proved an undesirable element, and had to
be discharged. Still others, who indeed were willing and
skilful at their tasks, proved physically incapable of with-
standing the privations, and had to be invalided back.
The loss of a man to a party was a serious factor,
apart from the cost of replacing him, which entailed
an outlay of from $15 to $20 — £3 to £4— for trans-
portation through the backwoods, because its efficiency
became depreciated. No party was hampered by a single
unit more than was absolutely imperative, and conse-
quently, when a man fell out more work was thrown
upon those remaining, and this condition of affairs had
to be suffered for several weeks, since it occupied anything
from a month upwards to send another man in.

Furthermore, many excellent men had to be dispensed
with, since, though no reflection could be cast upon
their skill, they were found to be unsuited to running the
line through such country with sufficient rapidity. The
standard of efficiency demanded among the surveyors
was extremely high. It was a striking illustration of
the survival of the fittest. As a result of this experience, in
the course of a few months a rigid test of applicants was
held before they were accepted, while all weaklings were
weeded out under medical inspection. In this manner
the whole of the parties buried in the Rough Country
became composed of men having a first-class physique,
and who were willing, energetic, and agreeable, so that
a spirit of bonne camaraderie prevailed, which assisted

56 HIGH STANDARD OF EFFICIENCY

very appreciably towards the rapid and successful culmina-
tion of the task.

Upon the selection of the route, the projected path
was pegged out for the guidance of the constructional
engineers, the stakes being spaced 100 feet apart in the
centre of the pathway, 100 feet wide where the track was
to be laid, with a bench mark indicating the particular
level at that point, placed at regular intervals of 1000 feet.
On a railway of this magnitude, however, final location
is never settled definitely, as it were, before it is con-
structed. A flying revising party is working always a
short distance ahead of the constructional engineers, in
the hope that at the very last moment a still better location
may be found.

CHAPTER IV

HOW THE SURVEYORS WERE TENDED IN THE WILDS

SEEING that the safety and welfare of nearly a thousand
men buried in the depths of the pitiless wilderness,
extending over some 1800 miles, rested in the hands of
the engineer-in-chief, the gravity of his responsibility
may be conceived. But they had been sent to do his
bidding, and it was his duty to see that they were made
as comfortable as circumstances would permit ; that
they did not want for a single thing. To keep such a
scattered army at the high-water mark of efficiency,
to secure an adequacy of provisions, and to keep it in
touch with the commanding officer, demanded a remark-
able organisation. This was conceived, elaborated, and
maintained entirely through the efforts of IVIr. Hugh
Lumsden, and it constituted one of the most outstanding
features of the whole undertaking. It was a supreme
task ; the perfection of comprehensive, intricate machinery
built up of a thousand different links, none of which could
be permitted to go awry, lest it throw the whole fabric
into confusion. From his office in Ottawa the lines of
communication spread out over the country to the most
remote and inaccessible corners of the provinces like
a huge net, and at all times he had absolute control over
every thread. The need of a man here, medical attention
somewhere else, provisions there, and instruments in
yet another part — all demands were made known to him
within the very shortest possible time, bearing in mind

58 CACHES

the vehicles of communication available, and were met
without the slightest delay. It was mainly owing to
the complete character of this organisation and the
unremitting vigilance displayed by the controlling force,
that the casualty list in connection with the surveying
of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was so insignificant.

The supreme factor was in regard to the commissariat.
Provisions had to be sent up-country at all costs, because
the region in which the surveying colonies were buried
possessed no subsistence beyond what might be taken
from the rivers and the forests, and such fare becomes
monotonous in a very short time. The men who knew
the country, and who could read the trails through the
silent, inscrutable forest were few and far between. The
Indians, trappers, and intrepid voyageurs of the Hudson's
Bay were those who were most familiar with them, and
they were pressed freely into service. The men under
the Hudson's Bay banner were most valuable owing to
their dexterity and skill in packing goods for transportation
by primitive up-country methods, while the Indians
and half-breeds were found to be unrivalled in carrying
goods on their backs when other means of transport
were unavailable or impossible, and for service in the
forest.

In the first place roads were driven in all directions
leading from large centres attainable by railway or
steamboat. These were not highways as we know them,
but merely rough paths about two or three feet in width,
sufficiently broad to permit of the safe passage of a dog-
sleigh and team. At strategical points along these roads
depots, or, as they are called in the vernacular, " caches,"
were established. Some were approachable by water,
in which case the supplies were hurried forward during
the short summer season when the inland waterways
were open, because such transport was far more economical,
ranging around 2| cents, or Ijd., per pound, whereas

TRANSPORTATION 59

land conveyance could not be effected much more
cheaply than 7 to 9 cents, or 3|d. to 4|d., per pound.

The main caches were placed in charge of a keeper
and an assistant, who for $40, or £8, apiece per month,
including living, attended to the receipt of the goods,
their safe storage, and trans-shipment to other points,
as occasion demanded. From these main depots lines
were driven in all directions, along which subsidiary
caches were established, the majority without an attendant
in the usual frontier manner, the only precautions neces-
sary being sufficiently strong protection of the goods
within against the ravages of bears and other animals
of the forest. These subsidiary caches were situated at
intervals of about eight or ten miles along the lines of
communication, and it was from these that the survey
parties replenished their supplies as occasion demanded.

Transportation by pack-horse or mule, despite its
advantages, could not be practised very extensively,
though seeing that each of these animals can carry from
200 to 300 pounds, it is advantageous if possible. But
the country traversed could not offer any support to
such life. The only remedy against such a natural de-
ficiency was to transport fodder into the territory at
frequent points. But as such would have been at the
expense of provisions for the parties of men at work, it
was not considered feasible. Then again, it has to be borne
in mind that the existence of the muskeg militated against
the utilisation of horses. Even under the best conditions
they cannot make rapid progress — about 2| miles per
hour is a good travelling speed, as I found from experience
— and they become stalled very easily in the swampy
ground.

Shallow-draft steamers were used on the waterways
to penetrate the interior, proceeding so far as navigation
would permit in the requisite direction. Canoes were
pressed into service also, and for this purpose a large

60 CANOES

fleet of several hundred of these craft was procured
and commissioned at various points. They were of all
descriptions, varying from 16 to 22 feet in length, and
comprising both birch-bark, dug-outs, and collapsible
canvas vessels. With the larger types a ton of goods could
be carried comfortably. But their manipulation demanded
men expert in the wielding of the paddle, who knew
how to shoot rapids, and who were skilled in the art of
packing. Half-breeds and Indians were found to be the
most fitted to this work, and they commanded a salary
of $40, or £8, per month on the average.

Canoeing is the most exhausting system of transporta-
tion in such a country that it is possible to undertake.
It is not merely a question of making one's way up or
down the waterway with an eagle eye alert for rapids,
snags, and other lurking dangers, while rushing along at
a furious pace on the bosom of an 8 or 10-mile-an-hour
current, nor poling foot by foot up-stream, nor hauling the
end of a thin line to get through a foaming mill-race,
though that is hard enough work in all conscience, but
it is the portaging that takes it out of the canoemen,
and sends the weakling to the wall. The canoe has gained
a point, say, on such and such a river beyond which it is
either impossible or inadvisable to proceed. But just over
the hill, or a hundred yards or more through the forest,
there is another river, running in the same direction but
gaining a point nearer one's destination. This has to be
taken. The backwoods canoe is not amphibious yet, so
the boat and its contents have to be carried piecemeal
across the intervening neck of dry land.

The canoeman unloads his craft on the bank, and
by means of a sling over his back becomes a beast of
burden, carrying the load in 1-cwt. consignments
across the portage. If he has a ton of goods aboard, and
is accompanied by an assistant, ten journeys will have
to be made, the goods being stacked on the bank of the

"On the Portage"

The most exhausting phase of surveying in a new country such as unknown Ontario
and Quebec is the conveyance of goods, chattels, and boats across country. The man
straps the load of about one hundredweight to his back, while the canoes are handled
similarly, giving the porter the appearance of wearing a huge cowl.

Laying Three Miles of Metals Per Day

In this illustration the track-layer is seen from the front, and is shown in the act of lower-
ing a length of rail, which the men have grasped and are guiding in its descent.

PORTAGING 61

second waterway. They then return to haul the boat
out of the water, and turning it upside-down, heave it
on to their shoulders, and thread the woods as if garbed
in a capacious monk's hood. Like Diogenes, they carry
their home with them, the latter not being a barrel,
but a heavy 22-foot canoe. Transferred to its element
once more, the canoe has to be repacked and retrimmed,
possibly to be submitted to another portage in the course
of an hour or so.

It is the portage which occupies so much time, and
which, from its very nature, subjects vehicle and contents
to considerable unavoidable rough usage. A portage
may be only 100 feet ; on the other hand it may be a
mile or more, and carrying load after load across the
rough country causes extreme exhaustion, as I found to
my cost.

Seeing that 50 per cent of the area of the province of
Ontario is represented by water, extensive portaging was
requisite to reach certain up-country points. Thus in the
Lake Nipigon district provisions and supplies were un-
loaded at Grasset, the nearest railway station, and sent
into the backwoods by canoe. In one case, before the
cache was gained sixteen portages were necessary, repre-
senting a total overland journey of lOf miles. In another
instance in the same territory sixteen portages had to
be made, representing 8 miles ; in a third case twenty-
nine portages, amounting to 11 miles, were requisite.
Some idea of the heartrending character of the canoe-
man's work may be thus imagined, and when the route
lies over such a waterway as the Pic River, on which
sixteen portages alone were necessary, owing to expanses
of such rough water being encountered as to be impassable
without imperilling the safety or condition of the goods,
it becomes a superhuman task indeed, and progress even
under the very best conditions is bound to be slow.

Portaging was found to enhance the cost of transport

62 PORTAGING

to a supreme degree, and in many instances the charges
under this head represented from double to treble the
value of the goods being handled. But such disadvantages
were incidental to the opening up of a new country,
and cost was of secondary importance when human lives
were at stake. The greatest trouble in this direction
was exjDerienced probably in the Gatineau River district,
where as many as fifty portages had to be made on one
through journey alone. In such a case as this the damage
which the canoes received when passing overland on the
shoulders of the packers was so extensive that they
survived only a single journey.

Portaging played more havoc with the craft than the
dangers lurking in the rivers, although these were of a
peculiar nature, and irritating in their frequency. The
canoeist had to keep a sharp look-out and to maintain
a steady command over his nerves to keep his frail bark
out of peril. Even then, under the most expert oarsman-
ship, a smash now and again varied the monotony of
the daily round of toil. Such were of grave significance,
for it meant the loss or damage of so much valuable
provisions, while now and again the disaster was enhanced
in gravity by the loss of a valuable life. When the work
was commenced the loss in canoes and lives assumed
an alarming proportion, but as the calamities were due
to lack of experience or skill, they were avoided by utilising
the services of expert navigators exclusively.

But while the rivers and waterways were scenes of
unwonted life and activity during the summer, the forests
meanwhile remaining practically dumb, during the winter
the position was reversed. The waterways froze into a
more or less solid mass and were deserted, but the bush
re-echoed the yelps of the dogs straining and pulling
at their heavily-laden sleighs, mingled with the fearsome
gutturals of an Indian half-breed in charge of the train,
or the savage ejaculation of a brawny French Canadian.

"HUSKIES" 63

While the ground was in the grip of the frost the bulk
of the supplies were sent in. The snows packed hard,
and the flimsy little vehicles were able to speed over its
glistening surface. The toboggans were about eight feet
in length by some fourteen inches in width, fashioned for
the most part from maple, ash, or birch, woods which
are the strongest and the most suitable for the purpose,
as they combine strength with lightness, and are capable
of withstanding considerable rough usage and hard
knocks.

The dogs employed were those known as " huskies,"
powerful, active brutes, possessed of great stamina,
wonderfully strong, and strikingly intelligent when once
broken into the work. These animals were recruited
from the Indian camps, villages, and fur-trading out-
posts, for they constitute the ship of the snow-bound
bush, and no outlying settlement would think of neglecting
to maintain a number of dogs for winter use. The dog-
team numbered from two to six animals, according to the
character of the country on its run and the load to be
handled. When the going was hard six dogs were pressed
into service, but when it was simple two animals sufficed.
The sleigh-load also varied accordingly, but the latter
was calculated as a rule on the average of 100 pounds
per animal, so that a sleigh of six dogs transported about
a quarter of a ton.

Scores of these trains were pressed into service, and
they were stationed at various points to transfer the
provisions from the main to the auxiliary caches and
among the survey camps. During the summer the dogs
were placed in the hands of responsible keepers, and
carefully tended so as to be in fine condition for their
arduous work when winter settled on the land. When
in good condition, and when the travelling was excellent,
such as through open, level country, or over the frozen,
snow-covered lake surfaces, they made from 20 to 40

64 THE DOG TRAIL

miles a day, but where the country was broken and the
timber dense, the pace dropped to anything between
3 and 8 miles per day. Taken on the whole, however,
a train could be relied upon to cover the round journey
between two adjacent caches in the coui'se of a day — a
matter of 16 to 20 miles — so that supplies were sent for-
ward at the rate of about 500 pounds per train per day.

When the winter settled down and the snows had
become sufficiently deep and hard for the dogs to be
brought out, the first outgoing team was preceded by
a gang of men on snow-shoes who defined the trail, clearing
away all branches and dead-fall that may have dropped
across the almost indistinguishable narrow causeway.
The dog-train trail was also driven in as straight a line
as possible, sharp turns being avoided as well as steep
climbs, so as to facilitate the rapid movement of the
team.

One man generally sufficed for the driving of the train,
and, armed with a long whip, he kept his charges at a
steady forward movement. Once a train had settled
down to its stride, the dogs kept it up, and if provided
with a good leader, held to the centre of the trail. But
the efficiency of a train depended largely upon the de-
meanour of the driver. The dogs resent harsh treatment,
and at times will strain the patience of the driver to
breaking-point. The men must be active, as hardy as
their charges, and maintain an equable temper. For
the most part these animals have a wolfish temper, which
can be roused easily, and should the man lack tact in
handling them, he is likely to precipitate a desperate
situation.

One French Canadian, who had dog-trained supplies
through some of the roughest parts of the country, related
to me how on one occasion his team played every imagin-
able trick when they were first brought under his charge.
Moreover, they were the most ferocious and wicked brutes

THE DOG TRAIL 65

he had ever handled. It was the first day out. He was
hning up the dogs in the morning to harness them, when
they broke into rebelHon, and in a combined movement
made a rush at him. He clubbed the first-comer with
his rifle, and then set about the others with his whip.
Standing with his back to the wall of the shack, he laid
out right and left with his murderous thong as the en-
raged animals sprang at him. For some minutes the
battle raged furiously, the yells of the dogs as the lash
of the whip got home being furious. Then it suddenly
dawned upon the brutes that they had met their master,
and they unanimously drew off and lay down panting.
For some minutes he stood still, watching developments,
before, whip in hand, he approached the nearest dog,
who happened to be the leader. It gave a savage snarl,
but showed no further fight, so was harnessed quickly.
Then it sprang to its feet and waited to take up its position
in the team. The other animals sullenly followed suit,
and the train set out as if nothing had happened, though
somewhat delayed. The driver informed me that never
after did he experience the slightest trouble with that
dog train, and never more had to have recourse to his
whip beyond the customary cracking to spurt them into
effort.

But the driver's life was one of galling monotony and
loneliness when out on the trail. A young English fellow
who had been in the service of the Hudson Bay Company,
but who was experienced in this peculiar work, and knew
the rough, wild country well, related his daily round
to me. As it is typical, it is worth relating, though it
was far more picturesque and romantic when narrated
to me round the camp fire in the heart of the silent forest.

He had to pass over a dog road and ordinary trail
350 miles in length. It was a tiring, difficult stretch,
through heavily timbered country, where the dead-fall
was exasperating, and the country maddeningly uneven,

66 HARD TRAVELLING

so that, time after time, the speed of the train slowed up
to a mere walk. With the train fully loaded he could
make about 17 miles per day. At places where the trail
was the most execrable he considered 8 miles a good day's
work, while, when the going was conducive to speed,
possibly 20 to 25 miles could be made.

He set out in the murky morn from the base and pushed
on as hard as he could, for the " Bush Inn " had to be
made that night, come what might. This hostel com-
prised a log shack divided in two, one half being for the
driver and the other for his dogs. He had to keep going
all the while to gain it before darkness fell. When the
elements were kind and the snow was in good condition,
he could make the journey before the short winter's
day drew to a close. Clad in thick woollens and furs,
with his head enveloped, leaving only his face exposed,
he sped off on snow-shoes behind the sled. When toiling
uphill he would give his team assistance by pushing
the load from the rear, while in making descents he pre-
vented the weight crowding on the heels of the animals
by hauling back with all his might to a rear line, digging
his feet deeply into the snow to secure a steadying pur-
chase. At places the descent was so abrupt that he
snubbed the rope round a tree-stump to hold the sled
in check as it hurried down the declivity.

But it was when the blizzard raged, and the soft snow
gave no grip to the feet, that the true perils and privations
of the trail became revealed with a startling suddenness.
The sled became clogged, and strain as they might the
dogs could hardly haul it along. By pushing and prising
he contrived to keep the dogs moving, for once a dog-
train comes to a stop the animals are likely to create
trouble. Then advance was merely a matter of a few
hundred yards an hour, and at places where the white
fleecy mass had drifted the train would come almost to
a standstill. The dogs dropped down panting vigorously

EXACTING TOIL 67

under the exertion. Cajoled and lashed into forward
movement, they would strain the harness to breaking-
point in their endeavours to get way on the unwieldy
mass. The driving snow almost blinded the driver,
and at times he could not see his leading animal, who was
completely shut out from his sight by the wreathing
and circling flakes. Occasionally there would be an
ominous scraping and jarring or wicked lurch as the
ungainly vehicle rolled over some obstruction, or it
would give a sudden right-angled turn as it collided with,
and glanced off, an unobserved tree. Under such con-
ditions the night would be far advanced by the time he
gained his destination, and in the glare of the Northern
Lights he would unharness his dogs, give them their
supper, kindle his fire, and refresh the inner man with
a hastily prepared meal. Then banking up his fire, he
would roll himself into his blanket and sink into a pro-
found slumber, thoroughly worn out by the day's work.

Up early the next morning, he prepared his breakfast,
tended his dogs, and finally, before pushing on, chopped
a sufficiency of firewood to meet the requirements of
his companion with another train following in his foot-
steps. It was important that the man departing from
a cache in the morning should give attention to this
detail, inasmuch as the chances were a hundred to one
that the next arrival would come in well-nigh played out.
It was but a kindly act to reduce his labours upon arrival,
after a day's exacting toil on the trail, to the minimum,
so as to enable him to get a well-earned meal in the shortest
space of time.

This was the round day after day for three dreary
weeks, until the destination was gained. Then he would
turn round, and the sleigh now being empty, the home-
ward run could be made in shorter time, usually in about
a fortnight. The whole time the young fellow was out
he would not see a soul unless he happened to come upon

68 HEALTH OF THE PARTIES

the members of a survey party, or spent a night with
a companion outward bound. It is not surprising that
great difficulty was experienced in securing men who
had the hardihood to face a hfe of this description, com-
bined with necessary experience in handling dogs and
packing for a wage averaging about $40, or £8, per month.

The health of the parties in the camps was another
cause of anxiety. Accidents were the contingencies
to be most feared, for the pure, bracing air and outdoor
life contributed toward the maintenance of a clean bill
of health, while the observance of the rudiments of hygiene
sufficed to ward off the ravages of contagious diseases.
Each party was provided with a well-stocked medicine-
chest with which the little ills to which flesh is heir might
be treated. Still it was thought advisable to hold a
fully qualified young doctor in reserve at convenient
points, to watch the health of those in the most remote
districts. These medical men were given an extensive
stock of medicine as well as an excellent selection of
surgical instruments and facilities for the performance
of any operation that might become necessary. Each
doctor was allotted a certain area containing so many
parties, and he toured from one to the other, thereby
keeping the health of all to a fine point of perfection.
His round was a lengthy one, in some cases aggregating
100 or 200 miles, while the continual movement of the
parties rendered his task somewhat more irksome. Their
provision was a wise precaution, for here and there a
slight outbreak of typhoid or scurvy due to limited diet
overtook a camp, while now and again a member of the
little colony fell a victim to some malady beyond the
limits of the camp medicine-chest, such as appendicitis,
meningitis, and so forth. The doctor's aid was of in-
calculable importance in the event of a mishap with an
axe, and in the case of snow-blindness and frost-bite.

Life in these vagrant settlements was somewhat

THE MAIL SERVICE 69

monotonous, far removed as they were from the bounds
of civilisation, but their isolation was dispelled somewhat
by the inauguration of a mail service. The postman
had rounds of perhaps 200 miles or thereabouts ; his
load was restricted to a maximum of 200 pounds, and
in some places three weeks were occupied on delivery.
Collection was made at a camp at the same time as de-
livery, so that the mail service ranged from once a week
to once a month, according to the situation of the party.
Letter mail only was carried in order to reduce the bulk
of the postman's bag, all book and parcel-post matter
being sent forward as the opportunity occurred by other
means. The postman received and surrendered his
consignments of letters at a certain centre, whence they
were transported to and from civilisation by the transport
parties moving to and fro. It appears a somewhat hap-
hazard method to our more enlightened eyes, but never
a letter was lost unless a canoe went to the bottom of
a river with the whole of its load. The postman had
to make his round as best he could, seizing any con-
veyance that might be going in the desired direction,
if such were available — and that was but rarely. More
often than not he was compelled to make his arduous
way afoot, whereby, under the most advantageous con-
ditions, he would cover some twenty or more miles a day.
Despite the great difficulty experienced in sending
huge stores of supplies into such an inaccessible, broken,
and wild country, the caches were kept stocked with
supplies sufficient to last some six or nine months, and
the men in the field had no cause for complaint in regard
to their rations, either in point of variety or quantity.
While pork and beans, oatmeal flour and bacon may be
considered the staple diet of the bush, delicacies in the
form of dried fruits such as apples, prunes, apricots,
sugar, condensed milk, tea, coffee, butter, and lime-
juice were not denied them. The variation and character

70 VALUE OF A GOOD COOK

of the menu was dependent in no small measure upon
the skill of the cook, and consequently no effort was
spared to secure the best man available in this depart-
ment at a salary of $60, or £12, per month inclusive. A
party of eighteen men were allowed some 2617 pounds
of supplies, comprising twenty-four different articles,
per month, which averaged 5*40 pounds per day per man.
The deficiency most felt was possibly in regard to fresh
meat, but inasmuch as the forests teemed with fur and
feather, while the streams abounded with fish of all
descriptions', this drawback could be remedied to a certain
extent by the men themselves in their spare moments
with but little exertion. The food-stuffs shipped in were
of the finest quality, for the authorities realised that an
army which could not quarrel with its commissariat
was certain to give good working results.

CHAPTER V

THE HEROES OF THE WILDERNESS

WHEN the Epic of the railway is written, the men
who laid the foundations of the National Trans-
Continental will loom prominently therein. I met several
of those who had been associated with the plotting of
the line during my journey along the location which
the great steel way is to follow to the Pacific Coast. They
were not communicative ; hardship, privation, peril,
and sensational excitement had been encountered so
frequently that they considered such as part of the daily
round, and now that they could view them from afar,
and a more distant date, they made light of them. But
when I probed beneath the surface, as seated round the
blazing fire in the lonely camp in the wilderness I drew
them into conversation, and once more threw them back
into the days when they were up in the forest toiling
mighty hard to find that four-tenths of 1 per cent grade,
they grew slightly reminiscent. And what stories they
could tell ! What thrills they could give !

Although they talk but little, more than one can show
scars of wicked wounds received in that conflict with
Nature, in which a great victory has been won in the
interests of peace. A missing limb, deformed or absent
fingers, blanks on the feet — all tell their own silent stories.
They are insignificant injuries incurred in rolling back
the map, it is true, but they bear mute testimony to the
severity of the battle, the bitter struggle against frost
and cold, for those blanks where fingers and toes formerly

7»

72 EVIDENCE OF THE FIGHT

existed were caused by frost-bite while toiling with the
transit, level, rod, or chain when the glass registered
something between 20 and 40 below zero.

The cemeteries around Ottawa, and at a dozen other
places up and down the country, can give still more grim
and tragic evidence of this fight. The brief epitaphs
relate how those beneath the soil met their end in some
unfortunate manner while searching for the easy grade.
Even the woods mourn over some hero who is sleeping
the long sleep beneath a rough mound, carefully railed
in with a picket fence and marked with a rude wooden
cross. If one searches the pay-rolls one will find here
and there the record of a man who set out bravely into
the woods never more to be seen or heard of again. The
forests and the rivers guard their secrets tightly. The
wonder is that the roll-call does not show more unanswered
names. It is a striking tribute to the wonderful organisa-
tion that was evolved to ensure the safety of a large,
scattered army locked in the wilderness.

Every day some daring deed was accomplished ; every
hour could relate some display of sacrifice ; every mile
of the line commemorates the heroism of a score of rough-
and-ready boys of the bush. There was Walter Leamy.
His story is one of sad and heroic self-sacrifice. He was
in charge of a transport party, and had a large bulk of
supplies which it was imperative should be got through.
He was working on one of the most difficult sections at
the time, and the winter was one of terrible severity.
The party were painfully making their arduous way for-
ward through soft snow and a blinding blizzard. At
last they ran into a bad stretch of snow, which compelled
a halt for deliberation. The question was what was to
be done, as the position was precarious. One of the men
volunteered to push ahead to reconnoitre, but Leamy,
being the officer-in-charge, refused to entertain the pro-
posal. It was his duty to pilot the party through, and

DARING DEEDS 73

if any risks were to be run, it was his place to incur them.
So he started off, promising to return without delay the
moment he found a practical solution of the difficulty.

But the rest of the party waited in vain. The hours
slipped by without bringing any signs of the transport
officer's return. The worst was feared, so the party
thereupon moved forward warily. Their leader's tracks
were plainly visible in the snow, and they dogged them
step by step. In due course they came to the edge of
the narrows of Opasatica Lake, and the imprints went
still onward over its ice-bound surface. But the boldest
among the party did not like the outlook. That lake
was covered with slush, and this is far more treacherous
than quicksand. The cause of the leader's non-return
was revealed as plainly as an open book. He had pushed
on speedily, had gained the edge of the lake, and without
pausing, had ventured on its dangerous surface. The
ice had collapsed under his weight, and the icy shell
had closed over him.

The men of the forest had reconstructed the tragedy
only too vividly. When the ice broke the lake gave up
the body of the heroic transport officer, and it now lies
sleeping in the cemetery of Hull, within sight of the office
whence he received his commission.

The slush on the lakes was one of the greatest obstacles
which those in the field were doomed to face. From the
bank it looks safe enough, but to venture upon its surface
is to court certain death. Why ? It is very simple to
explain. The lakes freeze up under the advance of winter,
but before the encrustation has assumed a sufficient
thickness there is a heavy fall of snow. Under the weight
of the white, fleecy mantle the ice slowly and steadily
sinks below the level of the water, which, pouring over
the mirror-like armour, saturates the snow. Under
successive falls of snow the ice sinks lower and lower,
and the slush assumes a greater and greater thickness.

74 THE DANGERS OF SLUSH

until at last it measures from 4 to 6 or 10 feet in depth.
What is more, it persistently refuses to freeze. The
appearance of its smooth surface tempts the daring to
advance. It withstands his weight until he has ventured
a fair distance from the shore ; then, without the slightest
warning, suddenly it opens up, drawing the unwary into
its icy depths, where he is soon suffocated. One cannot
escape from its embrace, no matter how great the struggle,
and when the end is reached the slush gathers over one,
giving no inkling of the ghastly secret beneath.

In some cases the depth of slush became so deep as to
render a lake absolutely impassable. Then the transport
had no alternative but to make its way painfully round
the treacherous expanse or to improvise a temporary
cache upon its bank, delaying the forward movement
of the supplies until a more favourable opportunity later
in the winter, or possibly during the succeeding spring.

Many have laughed over the " Cremation of Sam
McGee," as limned by Robert W. Service, and have
admired the verse-writer for the fertility of his imagination.
But up on the Trans-Continental some of the boys related
a grim story to me which recalled the desperate, uncanny
position in which Sam McGee's unfortunate partner
found himself. Two men were engaged in the transport
service. One of them was stricken down by illness and
succumbed. His companion was compelled to carry
the corpse back to civilisation for burial. He shrank
from the toil through the snow-bound forests with such
a load, but it had to be done. A rude coffin was made,
and in this the frozen body of the unfortunate chum was
laid, the sleigh being converted into a hearse for the
homeward run, as it had nothing else to carry. When
the man regained civilisation he was scarcely recognisable.
They said he had been scared nearly out of his wits
and was half demented. It is difficult to conceive the
strain on the mind of a superstitious backwoodsman

LONELINESS OF THE BACKWOODS 75

who was forced through such an ordeal as this, and his
thoughts as he made his lonely journey through the silent,
snow-girt forest with his grim load ; how he must have
been startled by the dismal howl of the timber wolves
hanging invisibly on his flanks in the cavernous gloom
of the trees ! After he came in he rambled for hours
about his dead chum, and the way they had conversed,
sung, and prayed together on that homeward jaunt.

The isolation palled upon some spirits, dragging them
down to the depths of despair. The loneliness of the
backwoods is one that can be felt, and will soon hurry
any but those accustomed to solitary communings with
Nature to their doom. One axeman attached to a survey
party up in the most inaccessible part of Northern Ontario
— this territory has claimed more victims than any
other between Winnipeg and Moncton — was missed
from his camp. He had gone no one knew whither,
but his comrades hurriedly organised a search party
and scoured the woods for miles around, making the
silent forest re-echo with their frantic halloes. But not
a trace of him was found. The forest held its secret
as tightly as the tomb, which indeed it became for that
poor fellow, for not a sign of him has been seen from that
day to this.

During the reconnaissance and the driving of the
preliminary lines, owing to the camp being constantly
on the move, flitting from point to point, the trans-
portation of supplies resolved itself into a pretty problem.
In addition to the subsidiary caches, trains had to be
reserved to follow the parties from point to point, since
their stay in one spot might be merely a matter of a
few days, or perhaps weeks, according to the nature
of the surrounding country and the extent of the re-
quisite survey work. One young surveyor related how
the party to which he was attached were forced into
desperate straits several times, and on one occasion

76 DESPERATE STRAITS

were within an ace of death from starvation. They were
out in the snow, plodding forward steadily, and were
so engrossed in their work that they had neglected to
observe the distance they had travelled. When they
pitched camp one night they found their position to be
somewhat critical. There was nothing in the larder
but a little flour. From this a kind of paste was prepared
and baked — " slap-bang " is the vernacular for this
unappetising substitute for bread. They endeavoured
to satisfy their cravings on this, and succeeded just
about as well as if they had dined off hard-tack. Certainly
it possessed no claims to nutritive value — it merely
served to fill a void. But there was no alternative.

The next morning " slap-bang " formed the breakfast
menu exclusively, and it was decided to retrace their
footsteps somewhat, with a view to intercepting the
pack-train which was following them and was to the
rear somewhere. The little party started off light-heartedly
through the blinding snow, and with the thermometer
well below zero, for they expected to meet the train in
the course of a few hours — certainly before nightfall.
But the day wore on without bringing any signs of succour,
and the lack of stamina to be derived from their " water-
biscuit " soon began to tell its tale. They shivered round
the camp fire that night as they ate the remaining crumbs
of their sole article of diet, and went to bed in their blankets
with an awful gnawing at their vitals. Sleep was well-
nigh impossible, and it was a heavy-eyed, weary, and
worn-out party that stumbled to their feet and once
more set out on the dreary stumble through the intermin-
able snow.

They trudged along slowly and laboriously for mile
after mile, but no sign of the pack-train was encountered,
and the question arose as to whether they had passed it
on their backward journey. For two days they had to
tolerate this condition of affairs, and their situation was

DESPERATE STRAITS 77

rendered more pitiful by a terrific blizzard which broke
over them. They could not even succeed in obtaining
the slightest sustenance from the forest, for fur and
feather appeared to keep well beyond their reach. Then
the weakest ones commenced to fall out. Sheer exhaustion
caused them to reel along as if in a dream, then they
tottered, and finally fell, with an unconquerable desire
to sleep. But the stronger ones fought the battle of the
weaker against this insidious snow malady, and it was
a grim, tiring conflict too, because the victims were
so afflicted that they could not help themselves.

In this manner they gained the point where the pack-
train should have been had it waited for their return ;
but though the snow was scoured on all sides for its
tracks, none were to be found. The awful fact dawned
upon the party that somehow or other the pack-train
had failed to come up. There was nothing for it but
to struggle on as best they could. Exposure and hunger
were telling their tale severely, and their pace was not
sufficiently rapid to keep their impoverished blood in
circulation. They hesitated to lie down to sleep at night,
in case the soporific effect of the white mantle should
drive them into unconsciousness, so they huddled to-
gether, a shivering, silent mass of humanity, around the
camp fire.

They were reeling along in the afternoon. Hardship
had well-nigh dulled all their senses. They were dead-
beat from hunger and loss of sleep. Suddenly they heard
voices raised in vituperation echoing along the trail.
It was the pack-train. It gave them new life, and in a
last effort they spurted forward. Through the blinding
snow they descried the phantom figures of the pack-
drivers hurrying forward at the fastest pace possible
under the circumstances. The survey party absolutely
blundered into the pack-train in desperation ; more
than one famished fellow dropped down into the snow,

78 DANGERS OF WINTER AND SUMMER

utterly played out. The packers grasped the situation,
and while one hurriedly saw to the preparation of a
fire and a steaming dish of pork and beans, the others
tended to the worn-out members of the party. My
friend admitted that it was the narrowest escape he had
way up in Ontario.

When the meal had been swallowed, sparingly and with
caution, after four days without food, the played-out
members were made snug, and permitted to enjoy the
soundest sleep they had wooed for a week. It was learned
afterwards that the pack-train had been overwhelmed
by the blizzard, had lost the trail, and had to call a halt
until the weather moderated sufficiently to enable the
packers to pick up their bearings. But they met the
party just in the nick of time, and my friend had a grim
memory of the escapade, for he lost four toes in the
starving retreat through the wilds.

But, taken on the whole, though movement during
winter bristled with dangers, the summer was the most
to be dreaded. Then the foaming waterways, over which
a considerable volume of traffic had to be maintained,
claimed many a victim. When the work was commenced
the number of men anxious to work in this inhospitable
country, with its atmosphere of excitement and adventure,
was amazing. Their sole recommendation for the task
was that they were expert canoemen, because they, in
their own words, spent every available moment upon
the water in the vicinity of their homes. They were
taken into service, only to realise very quickly the fact
that canoeing on the comparatively still lakes to the
south, and on the St. Lawrence, in the neighbourhood
of cities, was vastly different from water-dogging on the
unknown rushing rivers up-country. Many a novice
in these waters met an untimely end as he came tumbling
through a rapid. Consequently the authorities decided
only to make avail of men familiar with life in the back-

RAPIDS 79

woods. Thereby not only would there be a saving in
the deplorable expenditure of human life, but, more to
the point, the item " loss of provisions in transit " would
be decreased.

Yet now and again an expert hand with the paddle
met his Waterloo. Swamping in a rapid or striking
against a submerged rock was the most common cause of
disaster, and these overwhelmed both engineers and
packers. Up in Quebec the engineer in charge of a sub-
district, and his right-hand assistant with the transit,
were carrying out their work on the Upper Ottawa River,
which is one of the most notoriously wicked waterways
in the country. They got caught in the rapids, their
frail bark was tossed like a straw from side to side, to
come to an end by capsizing, throwing the occupants
into a maelstrom, from which there was no hope of escape.
Six days later their bodies were recovered and sent to
their respective homes for burial.

A French Canadian, Joseph Desroches, attached to
another party as axeman, who was an expert water-
dog, was poling up the Gatineau, that is forcing his craft
up-stream against the current by punting, which is the
only means of making headway against the turbulent,
downward rush. He was standing in the bow cautiously
feeling his way through the rapids. Suddenly there
was a cant, the next moment the canoe was upside-
down, and the unfortunate axeman was engaged in a
forlorn struggle for his life. Those rapids held their
victim for over three weeks, and when at last his body
was recovered, it was buried reverently on the bank
near the scene of the disaster. One can see his grave
to-day overlooking the treacherous waters which hurried
him to his doom, for a primitive wooden cross erected
by his comrades commemorates his memory, and inci-
dentally draws attention to the lurking perils of the
waters hurrying by.

80 RAPIDS

And so the list might be continued. Sometimes the
unfortunate men aboard the frail craft, by some ex-
tremely lucky stroke of fate, were able to scramble ashore,
but that was seldom. It was merely the skill of the men
engaged in the work, their great respect for the scurrying,
swirling waters, and the determination to incur no un-
necessary risks, that kept the death-roll so short. Here
and there the casualty list glitters with a more than
ordinarily exciting accident. There was George Lecours,
a canoeman on the transport service around Lake Abitibi.
Two canoes were coming down-stream, and in their
descent the Buck Deer Rapids had to be threaded. The
boats were running in Indian file, the transport foreman,
S. F. McGrath, being in the leading craft, while the one
behind contained Lecours and Mustard, a companion.

Good progress was being made, and the Rapids were all
but traversed when, for some inexplicable reason, the
second canoe swung round broadside and crashed into
a projecting bleached carcase of a tree which had been
caught by the river and tossed on one side, to form a
serious obstacle to travel. The force of the collision stove
in the frail canoe. Lecours made a spring and landed
on the log, while his luckless companion was thrown into
the water. The stentorian shouts of Lecours attracted the
attention of McGrath, who, grasping Mustard's desperate
plight, ran into the bank and hurried to his assist-
ance, Lecours appearing to be safe for the time being.
With great effort Mustard was hauled ashore, but when
McGrath looked round for Lecours he had vanished.
The treacherous log upon which he had taken refuge
had collapsed under his weight, throwing him into the
turmoil of the raging waters, and he was nowhere to be
seen. Diligent search was made for the body, but the
lateness of the season prevented its recovery, and so the
relentless ice and snow settled do^vTi upon the scene of
the tragedy and walled in the unlucky canoeman's grave.

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BUSH FIRES 81

But the greatest summer peril was from bush fires,
which rage with terrific fury and are of frequent occurrence
throughout New Ontario, the spruce, jack-pine, and
other indigenous resinous trees providing excellent fuel
for the flames. The danger from this terror of the forest
was not so much in regard to human life, as to the destruc-
tion of precious provisions hauled in and cached for the
succeeding winter, the loss of which might have jeopardised
the welfare of a whole survey party. Once this devastating
fiend secures a firm grip it roars viciously. The forest
through which it sweeps with incredible speed becomes
a fiendish furnace, which either has to burn itself out,
or to suffer extinction by a tropical downpour of rain.

Some of the caches were destroyed in this manner,
those without an attendant along the lines radiating
from a main cache being the worst sufferers. Seeing that
these contained anything up to five tons of provisions,
their loss was serious. On one occasion, in the vicinity
of Lake Abitibi the flames practically encircled a large
main cache, and the keeper, together with his assistant,
were in somewhat desperate straits. They fought the
flames as well as they could for two days incessantly,
and made heroic efforts to save the stores, which appeared
to be doomed. Fortunately a transport party happened
to be in the vicinity of the eache, and they extended
valuable assistance, while the news being sent through
to the engineer-in-charge of the district survey, not far
distant, he abandoned his work in the field, and gathering
his party together, hurried to the cache, where the small
army fought the flames with superhuman energy.

This fire proved one of exceptional severity and extent,
and although the main cache was saved from destruction,
a subsidiary cache which was in the centre of the fire
zone, and which could not be approached in time to rescue
the contents, was lost. Another party which was busily
at work in this selfsame area was reduced to a more

82 BUSH FIRES

unenviable position. They were at work when they suddenly
found themselves in danger of being surrounded by the
flames. They had no time to strike their camp, but had
to abandon everything, even their instruments, in order
to beat a mad retreat. Their escape was so narrow that
they only just succeeded in getting out of the grip of the
fiend, but they lost all their personal belongings, entire
outfit, and whole supply of provisions in the stampede.

More than once when out in the field the survej^ors
found themselves in the path of an advancing roaring
bush fire, and were smoked out of the forest like bees
from a hive. Under such circumstances, after making
certain that their camp and caches were safe, they simply
had to sit down and watch the devastating flames sweep
by, when they were able to resume operations upon the
burnt-out, blackened country. The snow may bring
dangers untold, the rushing rivers may prove terrible
death-traps, but the forest fire is the greatest peril to
be feared, and when it assumes huge proportions, stretching
perhaps in an unbroken line for miles, advancing at tre-
mendous speed under the fanning of the wind, then those
in its path must discard everything impeding their free
movement, and hurry at breakneck speed to a spot well
beyond the reach of the insatiable and implacable enemy.

Such was the way in which the path for the National
Trans- Continental — the Government division of the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway — was plotted. Its success consti-
tutes a striking monument to British engineering skill,
for all those engaged in the task were British subjects,
the majority being Canadians. Reputations were made
and marred on that supreme effort to find the four-tenths
of 1 per cent grade. Certainly it offered a golden oppor-
tunity for the young man at the bottom to make his
way to the top of his profession through sheer merit
in a very brief interval of time.

CHAPTER VI

THE DISCOVERY OF THE " CLAY BELT," A WONDERFUL
NEW AGRICULTURAL COUNTRY IN NORTHERN ONTARIO,
AND THE PORCUPINE GOLD FIELDS

WE have pointed out already that the surveying
engineer, in addition to finding the most economical
route for the required line, had to report upon the resources
of the country traversed : to draw attention to any wealth
lying dormant, whether it were forestal, mineralogical,
agricultural, or of any other kind. The prophets said
that the country would yield nothing but lumber or pulp-
wood ; the possibility of it being economical in any other
direction was ridiculed to scorn.

Yet what happened ? Scarcely had the surveyors
set their feet firmly in the country when news leaked
out that a wonderful discovery had been made, so startling
in its character as to give every indication of changing
the history of Eastern Canada. The evidences of the fact
were so palpable that the reconnoitring engineers, although
merely speeding lightly and rapidly through the territory,
could not help observing its existence. Then the Govern-
ment almost apologised for the apparent slowness with
which the survey through the northern country was
being made, and drew attention to the formidable obstacles
that had to be overcome. But those behind the scenes
knew only too well that some factor was responsible for
the delay ; that when the real situation became known
the whole of Canada would be startled. The procrastina-
tion was intentional. The engineers did not wish to
create an empty sensation. After they had stumbled

84 A LAND OF GREAT SURPRISES

across the discovery they probed it thoroughly, ascertained
its area, and made an intimate investigation of its possi-
bihties before committing themselves to hard and fast facts.

Suddenly the truth flashed out. A wonderful stretch
of the finest agricultural land it was possible to imagine
had been found, metaiDhorically speaking, within a stone's-
throw of James Bay, the huge indent on the southern
shore of Hudson's Bay. It was hidden beneath the pall
of the dense green branches of the tangled trees ; was
fenced off from the world at large by the barrier forming
the " Height of Land," running roughly transversely
across the province and approximately parallel with the
St. Lawrence River. Those who had proclaimed that
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway would never earn a
cent between Winnipeg and Quebec, owing to its extreme
northern location, found themselves hopelessly con-
founded, and when they attempted to explain away their
hostility were met with derision. Canada is truly the
land of great surprises, but few ever have sent such a
vibration through the country as the discovery of the
" Clay Belt " of New Ontario.

When I made my northward run into this remote
country from Toronto the existence of this hitherto
unknown stretch of agricultural land was the sole topic
of conversation among my fellow-travellers in the train.
The silver mines of Cobalt certainly compelled discussion
as we passed through Silverado, but it was insignificant in
comparison with the fascinating stories of the future
of the land " Farther North." My companions repre-
sented nearly every nationality. There were stolid
Germans, brawny Irishmen, grim, determined English-
men, powerfully constituted Scotsmen, hardened Galicians,
furrow-eyed Italians, fierce-looking Russians, and fair-
complexioned Scandinavians, all bent upon wooing For-
tune. Whither were they going ? To the " Clay Belt."
First they were going to start work on the building of

THE CLAY BELT 85

the Trans-Continental, and then, when they had amassed
a httle money, were going to homestead 160 or more
acres in this new land of promise.

Six months on the railway and six months on the land :
that was their creed. We passed through clearings in
the dense forest where a few German agriculturists had
settled, and already were engaged busily clearing away
the vegetation to let the genial rays of the summer sun
strike the ground upon which it had not focussed its
invigorating influence for a century or so. On all sides
the woods were smouldering and smoking, showing the
energy of the men who had entered into possession.

Yet the prospect was sufficient to frighten all but those
determined to succeed at all costs in the endeavour
to make money. I wandered from point to point, and
conversed with these rugged characters who are laying
the foundations of what is destined to become a prosperous
corner of Canada. They all admitted that the work was
hard ; that it was heart-breaking at first. Also that the
outlook was every whit as bad as it looked, and that
unless a man possessed considerable grit, he had better
prevent his feet turning towards New Ontario.

As to the outlook being fearsome, I can fully testify.
To reclaim the wonderfully fertile soil lying concealed
beneath those trees appeared about as promising as ex-
tracting gold from sea- water. The trees were jammed
together so closely that one could not squeeze between
them. They were so tangled that although one cut clean
through a trunk, it did not fall, but remained upright,
held in position by its branches being woven like intricate
netting with the branches of its surrounding fellows.
Then the undergrowth was so dank, tall, and thick
that it resisted all advance. To make progress one had
to hack and hew foot by foot with the axe, and so hard
was the wood, so desperate was the resistance offered by
Nature, that the keen edge of the implement was turned

86 CLEARING THE LAND

within a very short time. Unless possessed of almost
illimitable brawn and muscle, one could not hope to force
one's way through that northern jungle.

However, when I gained an area that had been cleared
the picture was totally and contrastingly different. Fire
had been driven through the tangled, matted trees.
The flames had devoured the interwoven branches,
and in some cases had gnawed their way through the
trunks. The homesteader had then sallied out through
his holding and had lopped the blackened, stark stumps
to the ground, had hauled them into a huge pyre, and
had fired the whole mass. When that was accomplished
a couple of horses, together with a short length of chain
and a fearsome-looking, small device, called a " stump-
puller," had extracted the roots with more ease than a
dentist draws a refractory molar. From half to one acre a
day was being cleared in this manner. Here and there the
settler had resorted to a more drastic means of accomplish-
ing his end. He had slipped a dynamite cartridge into
the base of the trunk, and then, when he had so treated
a whole row of gnarled stumps, he had retreated to a
safe distance. The press of an electric button, a miniature
volcano as a wall of earth flew twenty feet into the air,
and the roots lay torn and twisted in a heterogeneous mass
on the surface. They were collected speedily and easily
into heaps, and fire soon obliterated them.

Then I saw a large stretch of reclaimed bush, and its
appearance was a fitting reward to the industry and grim
determination of its owner. A dull chocolate surface
was exposed to the air and sun. A skilled eye could
detect that here was some of the finest soil for which a
farmer could wish. It would grow anything, and that
without the expenditure of a single cent upon fertilising
agents. Nature had endowed the land with all the nourish-
ment it required for the propagation of a variety of crops,
for the top-soil was nothing but a thick layer of decayed

TREASURES OF THE LAND 87

vegetation — ^leaves, branches, and thick trunks which
had bowed to the blast or the ravages of time, and had
disappeared into dust. This decomposed matter mingling
with the gritty constituents of the soil beneath, under
the action of the water, had formed an aggregate in which
roots could flourish with amazing productivity. I saw
some striking evidences of its potentialities in the form
of Swede turnips turning the scale at 15 and 16 pounds
apiece, carrots 28 inches long, massive heads of celery
with large, solid, juicy sticks as white as ivory, free from
the slightest blemish, fine potatoes, and huge, hard-
hearted cabbages.

Even those who discovered this country are amazed
at what has taken, and is still taking place. They were
somewhat guarded in their reports, since they did not
wish to raise false hopes, did not aspire to lure bold
pioneers into the wilds, and then let Nature take a sweet
revenge upon them for their temerity by breaking their
spirits and crushing their pluck upon the rack of adversity.

Such is the land which rolls away in gentle undulations
for 400 miles from the Harricanaw River in the province
of Quebec on the east, to the Missanabie River in the
province of Ontario on the west. At either extremity
the belt is about 70 miles wide, while in the centre it is
about 200 miles across. An average width of 100 miles
may be considered a safe computation, and this gives
an area of 25,600,000 acres. Allowing for occasional
appearances of rock, the arable area approximates
15,000,000 acres of the finest and most fertile soil. It
is an Empire within an Empire, for it is entirely self-
supporting. Agriculture is admitted to be the foundation
and the backbone of stability of any prosperous country,
and New Ontario possesses facilities for the man on the
land to the utmost degree, while the presence of coal,
gold, and other minerals of commerce enhances its economic
value : imparts a far rosier future than appears at first sight.

88 A PROMISING OUTLOOK

Is the outlook promising financially ? These frontier
settlers vehemently maintained that it was. The virgin
land they were taking over at 50 cents — 2s. — an
acre more than doubled in value from the moment they
entered into occupation and felled the first trees. They
were prepared to face three years of hard, unremitting
toil, for the prize to be won was certainly attractive.
One settler I met, and who had cleared four out of his 160
acres, had refused an offer of $4 — IGs. — an acre all round.
In another case a pioneer whose holding was in the em-
brace of fire had been offered $6 — 24s. — an acre, and
had smiled in scorn. Even $10, or £2, an acre had been
held out in some cases. But, no ! One and all appeared
resolved to hold on. They expected the land to improve
two hundred or more times in value during the next
three years ; they were anticipating confidently the day
when they could make $100, or £20, an acre.

Why such optimism ? Simply because, apart from
the fertility of the soil, the Trans-Continental Railway
bisects this rich country from end to end. The discovery
of the " Clay Belt " alone has justified the enterprise
of those who suggested the new steel backbone to the
country. Its development is adequate to secure the
success of the line. When a railway can depend for
appreciating revenue over a continuous stretch of 400
miles, such as is possible here, thought of failure cannot
be entertained for a moment. And when it is recalled
that a railway, when pushed to its fullest extremity,
cannot serve adequately a strip more than 2| miles broad
on either side, what can be said of a line which is destined
to meet the needs of a belt which varies in width from
35 to 100 miles on each hand.

But to describe the country as the " Clay Belt " is a
misnomer ; is apt to create distrust and to deter the skilled
farmer. To talk about clay in his presence is to convey
the idea that the land is stiffish, hard to work, cold, and

A FERTILE LAND 89

suited to the cultivation of but a limited few articles
in the extensive gamut of agricultural produce. The
so-called " Clay Belt " is clay only in regard to its sub-
soil. The top-soil, that which is the key to the whole
situation, is a loam for the most part of a sandy nature.
The uppermost layer or superficial strata is a thick growth
of moss from 6 to 12 inches in thickness. Then comes
a peaty soil extending to a foot and more in depth, with
the clay forming a seal to the moisture. But the clay
being impervious to water, holds the latter so that a
certain amount of drainage is requisite, but this is an
easy matter, as surface drains suffice to carry off all
superfluous water.

It must be pointed out that only those prepared to
face two or three years of the very hardest work should
venture into this country. Nature will give many hard
knocks ; the settler will require prodigious determination
to shake hands with Fortune. This fact was impressed
upon me very forcibly by all those who had entered into
occupation in this territory. They were having a severely
stern, uphill battle, which they anticipated to last for
three years or more. But they were spurred on by the
reflection that in Southern Ontario, the richest and
most prosperous corner of the Dominion to-day, the
same conditions prevailed when the Grand Trunk Railway,
the first iron road to be laid in the Dominion, was under-
taken way back in the 'sixties.

Although the farmer is called upon to undertake heavy
clearing before he can bring a foot of his land under
the plough, he has the consolation of knowing that the
preliminary work is not entirely wasted or futile endeavour.
The timber, which comprises black and white spruce,
birch, poplar, aspen. Balm of Gilead, balsam, and in some
cases elm and cedar, has a certain commercial value.
The pulp-wood industry is destined to secure a firm foot-
hold in this country, for the rushing rivers can supply

90 CLIMATE

abundant water-power, and the wail of the world in
regard to paper becomes louder and louder every day.
As I wandered through the country my eyes were arrested
by huge stacks of logs cut to a certain uniform length
piled up on every side. Firewood I surmised. But no.
The farmers informed me that it was destined for the
pulp-mill, and here I realised was an appreciable contribu-
tory source of wealth.

And what of the climate ? In winter it is cold — ex-
tremely so. In summer it is just the reverse. The sun
blazes from a cloudless sky for day after day continuously,
and its steadily increasing warmth spurs the crops to
maturity. In June, at eight o'clock in the morning, the
temperature stood at 70 degrees, and at midday the
mercury rose to 90 degrees and more. The little colony
at the Hudson's Bay outpost on Abitibi Lake relate
that for years past they have grown their potatoes in
the little clearing around the fort, and have seldom ex-
perienced failure, as well as other vegetable produce,
including barley. Even ground fruits can be grown
with a success that is astonishing. At Monteith, 455
miles north of Toronto, the Provincial Government
has cleared an extensive expanse of the cold, gaunt
forest for an experimental farm, where the settlers may
learn just what can and what cannot be grown with
success.

The country is already assuming the appearance of
prosperity and hustle. If recent maps are consulted,
the name of Cochrane looms up largely in the midst
of this vast wilderness. Yet two and a half years ago
Cochrane did not exist. To-day it is a thriving com-
munity ; at the time of my arrival it was in the throes of
development.

Its creation arose in this wise. The steelway was planned
to run across the country from Quebec to Winnipeg. It
was imperative that a short, convenient connection with the

A THRIVING COMMUNITY 91

Grand Trunk Railway system in Southern Ontario should
be provided. The obvious course at that time was to
extend the Provincial Government railway of Ontario —
The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Line — north-
wards. In this way the main artery flowing from east
to west would be tapped, giving an outlet to Toronto,
500 miles to the south, and Montreal, as well as Chicago
and the great industrial centres and ports of the United
States, since the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway will be-
come the obvious highway between the United States
and its remote dependency Alaska. This was accom-
plished, and at the point where the two lines met, at
right angles a huge clearing was made in the forest and
the foundations of the town of Cochrane were laid.

This town will blossom into the Clapham Junction
of the north, for it is at the Cross-Roads of Canada.
Already it gives every sign of becoming such. Within
eighteen months it rose from a dot in the wilds to a teem-
ing small town of 1500 inhabitants. Once the trees
were cleared, the streets indicated by wide swathes
running at right angles to one another, a rush and land
boom set in. The prices of lots 50 feet wide by 150 feet
deep, fringing the main streets, soared to high figures.
Corner plots rose to, and changed hands at, §2000
— £400 — apiece. Timber buildings sprang up on every
side. Before wooden dwellings had become established
the conversion to permanent masonry began by the
erection of an imposing bank. Two hotels were ready,
while stores, shops, and other commercial buildings
were doing business on every hand. There was not a
foot of gas in the place, except what the residents generated
themselves on the spot, and yet electric lighting and
power were being discussed. The streets existed in
name only. The side-walks, in order to overcome the
possibility of breaking one's legs while walking in the
dark, and to facilitate rapid movement, were paved

92 A TOWN IN THE MAKING

with wooden planks, while the roads were just as Nature
had left the surface of the ground, with the tree trunks
projecting from 6 to 18 inches above and obstructing
vehicular progress.

But the arrangement of the town had commenced.
The grading of the streets was under way. The stumps
were being grubbed up, piled in unsightly heaps in the
centre of the thoroughfare, and then set on fire. A score
or more of these pyres were blazing furiously night and
day, sending showers of sparks and heavy clouds of
smoke into the air. After dark it was as if the whole
place were in the embrace of a conflagration. In one of
the main streets a timber dwelling had been raised
hurriedly to serve as a theatre, and a cinematograph
display was being given every evening, the exterior
being illuminated as brilliantly as the conditions permitted
by an arch of variously coloured oil-gas lamps.

Large buildings were in course of construction to meet
the requirements of the railway in regard to the accommo-
dation of engines and rolling-stock. Fifteen miles of
sidings were being laid down, and a spacious and imposing
junction station was forcing itself into the air. Eighteen
months before, if one desired to gain the spot where
Cochrane now stands, he had to be prepared to face an
arduous and dangerous journey on the back of a pack-
horse which would have occupied from a fortnight to
a month to accomplish. Yet at the time of my visit
a first-class train, with Pullman cars, ran into the station
once a day, and departed the next morning. Such is
the manner in which this town has forged ahead, and
what its future will be no one is bold enough to say.
The residents with whom I conversed were discussing
gliblj' the date when they would be able to lay down an
electric tramway service, possess telephonic facilities
and other little conveniences. And this in a town that
was less than two years old !

GOLD AND SILVER 93

Cochrane received a decided impetus from the discovery
of gold a few miles to the south-east. Some hardy pros-
pectors were sufficiently audacious to face a bitter fight
with the locked-up country to embark upon an expedition
to search for the yellow metal. Their intrepidity was
rewarded. News leaked through to the south, and a
mad stampede ensued. The Porcupine Gold Fields were
the focus of public attention, interest, and curiosity.
In the new sensation Cobalt, with its wealth of silver,
was forgotten. Many of those diligently searching for
veins of the white metal around Silverado, more to the
south, abandoned their quest, hurried up-country, and,
notwithstanding the forbidding character of the trek of
36 miles through the wilderness, plunged bravely into
the bush. It was a continuous seething stream of humanity
which detrained from the railway and scuttled into the
forest to wrestle with muskeg and dead-fall, to ford
tumultuous, wide streams, and to toil over broken, rock-
strewn hill-sides.

A large number of these hardy prospectors accompanied
me northwards in the train. Clad in their khaki-coloured
canvas, with slouch hat, high, thick-soled boots, with
a tin mug strapped to their belt, and their gunny-sack
crammed to bursting-point with gold-pan, pick, axe,
and other impedimenta, they left the railway at Kelso,
the railway point nearest the gold fields. Even this
station was in embryo. There was no platform, not a
building to indicate its whereabouts, nothing but a small
board nailed to a decapitated tree trunk with the name
inscribed thereon in white letters upon a black back-
ground. A magnificent station replete with various
buildings will rise there some day, but its time is not yet.
Scattered alongside the railway line were a number of
odd-shaped tents, and a host of swarthy pioneers swarmed
round the train as it came to a standstill to greet the new-
comers. These formed the nucleus of a small town, the

94 HARDY PIONEERS

base from which Porcupine was reached. Goods, chattels,
and provisions were stacked up in the open air in assorted
heaps, and protected from the elements by a piece of
canvas or sacking thrown over the top. The Government
was in occupation constructing a waggon road through
the forest, to ease the arduousness of the overland journey
somewhat. Since then, however, the Provincial Govern-
ment has built a railway which is to be electrically operated,
so that the Porcupine Gold Camp has enjoyed but a brief
existence as a frontier mining settlement.

The stories that filtered through the country regarding
the " strikes " made in this new Eldorado were sufficient
to infuse energy into the most lethargic. The wonderful
silver discoveries at Cobalt sank into insignificance beside
the rich " finds " that had been made in the heart of
Ontario's great forest. Scattered over the country in
a large circle were hosts of these gold-seekers, diligently
examining the ground for signs of veins, and they were
meeting with widespread success. A town at Porcupine
about 40 miles from the railway was projected at that
time, and frontier town-builders were forcing their way
across country to carry out this phase of operations,
to lay out streets, to erect stores, and to complete the
arrangements to meet a thousand and one exigencies.

Engineers were busy up and down the route of the
Trans-Continental collecting data regarding the amount
of electric water-power available on the rivers, which
aggregates many thousand horse-power, and selecting
suitable sites for the establishment of large stations where
the forces of the water at present running to waste could
be converted into electric energy to supply the multifarious
demands for power throughout a district many miles in
radius. Another party had forced its way at great hazard
for 50 miles to investigate a discovery of coal. Should
this prove sufficiently attractive, then the problem of
supplying the railway with all its requirements in regard

SHORES OF THE GREAT LAKES 95

to fuel, as well as the numerous communities that are
certain to arise for miles around, will be solved.

The activity in this country was astonishing. Three
years before it was threaded only by the trapper and the
Indian. To-day it is a hustling hive ; the silence of the
forest is broken by the million sounds incidental to civilisa-
tion. The wealth of the region shut off so long from the
rest of the world is being exploited feverishly. And all
this because a new steel highway is being driven through
the country. When Southern Ontario was taken in hand
by the pioneers for development, it occupied a quarter
of a century of heartrending effort to clear the ground
and to render it productive. In the north the wUderness,
many times more forbidding than was the territory fringing
the great lakes, has been rescued from oblivion in two
years. Within another five years it will have attained
a position of increasing prosperity and complete inde-
pendence.

The remarkable change wrought upon Eastern Canada
has more than justified the far northern location of the
Grand Trunk Pacific. What the future will bring forth it
is rash to prophesy. The same class of country extends
towards the Arctic Circle. The shores of James Bay are but
178 miles distant, as the crow flies, and can be gained from
Cochrane by canoe in a matter of eight days. Plucky spirits
searching for a holiday associated with a strong element
of adventure, and desirous of getting far from the beaten
track, as well as securing a taste of frontier life and excite-
ment, are already indulging in such trips to the great
inland sea to the north with a skilful Indian or backwoods-
man as guide. The time is not far remote when the iron
horse will make its way northward too, through a country
easy of conquest, and which, from its character, is able
to support the band of steel practically for every mile of
its extent.

CHAPTER VII

BRINGING UP THE CONSTRUCTIONAL ARMIES AND THE
RAILWAY builders' HEAVY ARTILLERY

TT7HEN the locating surveyors had completed their
T V task, the line the railway was to follow was indi-
cated by a row of stakes planted 100 feet apart, extending
in an unbroken line up hill and down dale, across swamps,
over granitic, rocky humps, around lakes and through
the forest for over 1800 miles. The track was visible
plainly through the bush, for the plotters had cut a
narrow avenue through the vegetation, nothing more
than a passage about three feet wide. The stakes ran
down this attenuated lane, and represented the centre line
between the pair of metals, for it is a single track.

But, although the procedure appeared so simple,
and the route was indicated to the builders so plainly,
the task which confronted them was of no ordinary
character. They had to bring up scores of locomotives
and trains of ballast trucks, together with miles of portable
railways, steam shovels, pile-drivers, grading machines,
muskeg-fillers, thousands of tons of supplies, and imple-
ments innumerable to enable the building work to be
carried forward. And last, but not least, there were the
hundreds of men to transport through the wilderness
to the desired points from which the project was to be
attacked, while their welfare was essential.

At the outset there was only one means of consum-
mating the task, at least so far as the stretch between
Quebec and Winnipeg was concerned. This was to

PLOTTING THE LINE 97

drive the line forward east and west from either end,
marshalling the forces at a suitable base at either extremity,
laying the track as they proceeded, and thus moving
the end of steel forward in instalments of 100 miles
or so at a time. To attempt to penetrate the country,
so as to establish a central driving-point, appeared im-
possible, for there was an overland journey of about
150 miles through extremely difficult country confronting
the builders. The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario
Railway — the Ontario Provincial Government line —
was carried only so far as Englehart, 138 miles beyond
North Bay. Yet the Trans-Continental line, running
at right angles thereto, was over 100 miles beyond as the
crow flies.

So far as the route through the lower provinces of
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia was concerned, there
was no cause for apprehension. Although the line passed
through unsettled stretches of country here and there,
such locations were never far removed from existing
lines of communication, and short lengths of waggon
road could be driven easily to connect with the latter
at convenient points. But there is a vast difference
between cutting a 6-foot swathe through the forest for,
say, 20 miles and for 150 miles, especially when it has
to be made through country extensively broken up
by water, and where the crossing of wide, deep rivers
tearing along at fiendish speed and gullies was unavoid-
able.

By forcing the line through the wilds from Winnipeg
and Quebec respectively, the outermost camps, no matter
how far inland they might be, would be in constant
touch with their bases, and any emergency could be met.
The inner and most inaccessible stretches of the country
could be traversed in safety by this means, and the lines
would meet about the centre thereof, in just the same
way as a tunnel driven from either end of a mountain

98 CLEARING THE RIGHT OF WAY

range meets in the heart of a peak towering thousands
of feet above. It was realised that the constructional
work would occupy a considerably longer period than
if the task were attacked from several points simul-
taneously, but this was a disadvantage incidental to the
undertaking.

The first step was the clearing of the right of way.
Bands of men expert with the axe sallied forth into the
primeval forest with an abundant supply of tools of
this character, equipped with a light camping outfit,
inasmuch as they advanced comparatively rapidly. From
morning to night the savage plonk-plonk-plonk of the
razor-like tool hacking through the tree trunks was heard,
followed in a few minutes by a long-drawn-out crash as
the severed monarch crashed to the ground. These men
had to hew a pathway 100 feet wide through the woods,
this being the width required to carry the great steelway
for 3556 miles from coast to coast. When viewed from
a height, this band through the forest, in many places
as straight as an arrow, presents a strange appearance
with its edges of knife-cut evenness. As rapidly as the
trees were felled and deemed useless for any constructional
purpose, they were piled into huge heaps and fired. The
advance of the clearers was shown by a trail of smoke
and smouldering bonfires like that of an invading army
burning and pillaging as it moves through an enemy's
country.

Hard on the heels of the clearers came the advance
lines of the constructional engineers establishing camps
for the navvies, and blazing a waggon road over which
steam shovels, graders, and other heavy artillery could
be hauled to their respective positions. Narrow-gauge
lines were laid down, over which ran diminutive ballast
trucks from point to point, while, as the grade advanced over
embankment or through cutting, a temporary standard-
gauge track for the constructional engineers was forced

ESTIMATING THE COST 99

forward. It was a crazily built line, each rail undulating
in an unpleasant manner, so that the trucks and engines
as they passed to and fro appeared to reel heavily from
side to side. Hour after hour trains rumbled up and
down, bearing consignments of gravel and spoil for fashion-
ing the grade.

In an undertaking of this magnitude, where, althouglx
the amount of work to be completed is apparent ap-
proximately from the drawings of the surveying engineers,
a complete quotation for the construction of a certain
length of line is impossible. The chances of running
into the unexpected are so overwhelming, and the liability
incurred is so heavy, that a lump lock, stock, and barrel
sum cannot be quoted — no sane contractor would under-
take the risk. So the work is carried out on the yardage
basis. The contractor is paid for the amount of earth
he has to excavate to form the grade. This factor is
determined according to the character of the country
in which work is carried out.

For purposes of reckoning the material is defined
under three headings. Ordinary soft soil, such as loam,
clay, free gravel, and such like, is termed " common,"
and is paid for at the lowest rate ; large stones and boulders
less than one cubic yard, loose rock which cannot be re-
moved by hand, pick, or crowbar, and material which
cannot be handled by a 10-inch grading plough hauled
by six horses, and which does not demand continuous
blasting, is known as " loose rock " ; while when the line
has to be torn out literally by gunpowder and dynamite
for every foot of the way, it is defined as " rock." The
latter commands the highest price, the " loose rock "
being a happy medium in rating between the two extremes
of " common " and " rock." The two former can be
handled by unskilled labour ; the latter requires the
services of men expert in the economical handling of
explosive agents, and who in drilling and firing a blast

100 LAKE ABITIBI

can effect the requisite result with the minimum of useless
effort — in other words, will not disintegrate more rock
than is absolutelj'^ necessary, or, as it is technically known,
will reduce the " over-burden " to the minimum.

But the opportunity to attack the undertaking from
its most difficult point — the centre — arose. The Ontario
Provincial Government, realising the possibility of a
remunerative traffic, and that they could provide the
Trans-Continental with a short, direct connection with
Toronto and the great cities to the south, decided to
carry their line, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario
Railway, northwards until it connected with the former.
It would involve the building of 114 miles of line through
arduous country where extensive bridging and heavy
embankment work would be necessary. The authorities,
however, with characteristic enterprise, determined to
push the line ahead in anticipation of the future, and this
prevision has been well repaid.

As this line approached its junction vtith the Trans-
Continental, which is now indicated by the town of Coch-
rane, the attack on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
centre commenced. Lake Abitibi was rendered accessible,
and that was an appreciably helpful factor. The Temis-
kaming and Northern Ontario Railway crosses the Black
River, which connects with Lake Abitibi, and directly
this was achieved a contract for 150 miles of the central
section was let and hurried forward. The representatives
of the contracting company hastened northwards to the
Black River at a point known as McDougall's Chutes.
They spied out the country and decided to establish
their head-quarters at the above point, to drive waggon
roads, and to convert Lake Abitibi, which is 44 miles
in length by a maximum width of 18 miles, into a channel
of communication.

Boats were brought up over the railway and launched
on this sheet of water, while the material for scows was

DANGEROUS CHUTES 101

also transported up-country and erected by the water-
side. This gave a decided impetus to construction, since
the Trans-Continental skirts the northern shore of the
lake. Roads were blazed in all directions to gain strategical
points along the right of way, the supplies and material
shipped north during the summer going via these roads,
while those consigned during the winter were sent for-
ward over others which were more suitable to sleigh
transportation. Material was brought up also at great
effort for the erection of steamboats on the selfsame lake,
and designed to traverse the River Abitibi to the point
where the Trans-Continental was planned to cross the
waterway, or at the point at which a base camp was
to be constituted. This was a daring undertaking, because
Abitibi River is beset with dangers to navigation, but
it was well worth the attempt, inasmuch as its successful
use would enable material to be got into the country
quickly.

The particularly dangerous points were three chutes.
It was deemed too risky to attempt to rush these with
freight on board, so tramways were laid around them.
The laden vessels paused at the lower ends of these tram-
ways, the loads were disembarked and sent round over-
land to the head of the chute, through which the lightened
steamer made its way as best it could, and upon arrival
reshipped the supplies once more. It appeared to be a
roundabout process, with all the attendant evils arising
from frequent handling, but it was preferable to jeopard-
ising the safety of a heavy consignment of precious supplies
in the chutes.

As soon as Cochrane was reached it became a very
busy constructional centre. From this point the line
was driven both east and west, the former destined
to meet the arm advancing from Quebec, and the latter
to link up with the section approaching from Winnipeg.
A vast tract of country was cleared to house the various

102 LAKE NIPIGON

needs of the railway contractors, and it has proved a
useful, valuable base, inasmuch as it is in direct touch
with Toronto, about twenty hours' run to the south.

Though the situation in the Lake Abitibi country
was eased now very decidedly, that around Lake Nipigon
occasioned considerable anxiety for a long time. Indeed,
it is a moot point whether the country traversed by the
railway north of this sheet of water was not more difficult
of penetration than that more to the east. Supplies
could be brought by rail and boat to Nipigon, nestling
in an indent on Nipigon Bay, a sheltered corner on Lake
Superior, but from that point northwards the undertaking
was distinctly hazardous. Just north of Nipigon town
is Helen Lake, the upper end of which is 18 miles distant
from Lake Nipigon.

When the contractors desired to push into the country
they set to work building a narrow-gauge railway to
connect Lakes Nipigon and Helen. A tug and scow were
placed in service on Lake Helen, by which supplies could
be conveyed to the northern shore to be transferred to
the railway, by which they were moved forward to the
southern end of Lake Nipigon. Messrs. Revillon Brothers,
the well-known fur-traders, and active competitors of the
Hudson's Bay Adventurers, undertook to bring up
materials and to build a steam barge — no slight under-
taking in itself — by which the material could be shipped
from the northern end of the narrow-gauge railway to
the head of the lake for distribution wherever desired.
Let it be remembered that all these elaborate and ex-
pensive preliminary arrangements were essential to enable
75 miles of line to be built I

These preliminaries occupied some seven months,
being pushed ahead with all possible speed, as the con-
tractors desired to send forward a heavy consignment
of supplies to enable a large army of men to be kept at
work on the grade during the winter. They had only

AN IMPORTANT BRANCH LINE 103

something like a month to achieve their desires, and
in that time succeeded in sending up 1500 tons of material
of all descriptions before the lakes froze over and naviga-
tion had to be abandoned for the winter. The moment
the first consignments of supplies reached the head of
the lake forces of navvies were hurried up-country,
and the grading commenced in grim earnest. However,
they could not enroll more than 400 hands for that winter,
since the provisions were inadequate. But when the ice
opened in the succeeding spring, both men and provisions
were sent into the country in a ceaseless, heavy stream.

In addition to the main line running across country
to Winnipeg, a branch line was planned from Fort William,
on Lake Superior, to run for 189 miles north-westwards,
to tap the Trans-Continental 247 miles east of Winnipeg.
This was undertaken in order to give the capital of Mani-
toba an additional, more direct, and easier connection
with the water-highway via the Lakes. This line is of
strategical importance, as is described later, and will
prove to be one of the busiest stretches of railway in the
whole of the Dominion.

The camps strung out in a long line along the route of
the railway were interconnected by a telephone system,
which also brought them into direct touch with the bases
of operations. It was a flimsily built line, and its erection
offered an interesting introduction to frontier methods.
The first man went his way with a good supply of wooden,
peg-like brackets, carrying glass insulators. At fairly
uniform intervals a post was fashioned hastily from a
suitable young tree, and to the top the insulator bracket
was nailed. In his wake, following the right-of-way,
came a team and vehicle carrying a large coil of wire
As it skirted the post the attendant on board deftly threw
the wire over the bracket, the line trailing mournfully
in deep festoons from post to post. Behind the wire-man
came the line-man, who swarmed the post, tightened

104 LABOUR DIFFICULTIES

the wire, and effected the requisite connection to the insu-
lator. In this way several niiles of telephone could be
installed during a single day. It represented a certain
item of expenditure, but its convenience for communica-
tion between various camps when other means would
have been unavailable, repaid its cost several times
over.

Another preliminary operation was the driving of a
waggon road linking the various camps. It was a rude
highway, it is true, but a few feet in width and roughly
fashioned. Banks had to be cased, and where bad stretches
of swamp or muskeg existed these had to be fixed by
means of corduroying, i.e. tree trunks laid transversely
and nailed to longitudinal side -pieces, so as to afford a
stable surface to the passage of vehicles and animals.
A ceaseless stream of teams and vehicles passed along
this road from morning to night, bearing provisions,
constructional material, and other impedimenta for the
various camps.

Labour was one supreme difficulty. Recruits could
not be enrolled in sufficient numbers to handle and tend
the heavy artillery of the railway-builders. Nearly every
camp was below strength. It was not that the wages
were low, but because of the loud cry for hands that
prevailed throughout the whole of the west. The con-
tractors raised the wages with a view to tempting men
to the spot, but the farmers were not to be outbidden.
Their harvests had to be garnered, by hook or by crook,
at high pressure. It was not until the wheat was housed
safely in the elevator that the situation became eased.

Faced with the prospect of unemployment during
the winter months, the labourers turned their footsteps
from the farms to the railway constructional camps,
where, so long as they cared to toil, they were certain of
a steady 17 and 20 cents — 8|d. to lOd. per hour — for the
commonest unskilled work, while those expert in the

THE ENGINEERS 105

task commanded wages according to their worth. The
result was that more work was accomplished during the
winter, when the country was in the grip of frost and snow,
than in summer.

The construction of the line was taken in hand in large
stretches at a time, ranging in length from 40 to 100
miles or more. At intervals of every two or three miles
the constructors established camps for a small army of
men, horses, and material, while ample supplies of food
were stored to meet their requirements for six or nine
months. In addition the section was subdivided into
divisions ranging up to 12 miles in length, on which
resident engineers were stationed. These engineers were
in the Government employ, and the scope of their opera-
tions was to report on the progress of the work, how it
was being accomplished, together with periodical returns
for calculating payments due to contractors as the task
proceeded.

Each resident engineer was assisted by a transit-man,
rod-man, chain-man, and one or two supernumeraries,
who were in the field the whole livelong day, watching
and checking operations to preserve the grade and align-
ment, while the resident patrolled the stretch to ascertain
that everything was proceeding smoothly and satis-
factorily ; that the requirements of the specification
were being fulfilled strictly to the letter. No opportunity
to scamp the work was afforded, even if there had been
any such inclination, for there was the divisional engineer
in charge of a certain number of residencies, to check
the work of the latter, while the divisional engineer in
turn was watched by the assistant engineer, who was a
lieutenant of the chief at Ottawa. Still, it is satisfactory
to record that no serious friction arose between contractors
and the Government engineers, and certainly complaint
was never raised as to inferior work. At times disputes
as to the classification of the earth handled arose through

106 HYGIENE

differences of opinion, but such were invariably adjusted
upon appeal to the engineer-in-chief, and even if this
action proved abortive, arbitration settled the difficulty
satisfactorily.

Innumerable conveniences were provided to improve
the lot of the workmen and to expedite the task in hand.
Hospitals were erected at frequent points, ready to handle
any class of accident or illness that might overtake any
of the men, with fully qualified physicians, and skilled
surgeons in charge. Their services were not required
to a great extent, beyond attention to accidents, which,
despite the rules laid down to prevent the occurrence of
mishaps, could not be prevented in their entirety. Fortu-
nately the camps, owing to the hygienic manner in which
they were laid out, and the adamant observance of sanitary
laws — no easy matter, bearing in mind the nationalities
of some of the labourers who had flocked thither from
countries where the rudiments of hygiene are not en-
forced— carried a remarkably clean sheet of health.
Now and again there would be a slight outbreak of an
epidemic — generally typhoid fever — but such were always
caught in the incipient stage by the medical men retained
for the contract, and their skill and knowledge soon served
to stamp out the visitation.

Then the mail service claimed attention. An excellent
organisation for the periodical collection and delivery of
letters was elaborated, and although the men were en-
tombed during the winter in an open-air prison, the sur-
rounding wall of wilderness constituting an impenetrable
barrier, yet the workmen even in the outermost camps
were enabled to keep in touch with the outside world,
their relatives, and friends. Now and again they would
make a short excursion to civilisation with their accumu-
lated wages. This generally partook of the nature of a
first-class carouse, since no intoxicating liquors were
obtainable in the constructional area. When the reward

THE MAIL SERVICE 107

for the sweat of their brow was expended, they returned
to the field of their former labours broken in pocket.

To those working on the grade up in New Ontario
the journey south was invariably too expensive and
lengthy just to satisfy a passing craving, seeing that in
some cases they had to travel a matter of 250 or 300
miles. Even Cochrane, though a town of some significance,
could not boast a single establishment at which alcoholic
liquor could be obtained ; Englehart was the nearest
licensed community. It is little wonder, therefore, that
the saner men, much though they would have enjoyed
the opportunity for a " night out," decided that the
journey was not worth the gratification of desires. Conse-
quently the larger number of men working in the silent
wilderness were enabled to make money, and to invest
their wealth in a farm, business, or what not, thereby
establishing themselves firmly on the first rung of the
ladder leading towards sturdy independence.

When the whole undertaking was brought thoroughly
into swing, it produced a scene of hustling activity un-
paralleled in the history of the world. A solid 1800 miles
of main line railway of the highest grade was in the melting-
pot. Something like $100,000, or £20,000, were being
poured out every day to provide work for over 25,000
men who were engaged in a mighty struggle with rock,
muskeg, and forest.

CHAPTER VIII

THE GRIM TUSSLE WITH NATURE

WHEN the 25,000 odd men settled down to their
work, when all anxieties taxing the contractors
in regard to supplies and provisions for the welfare of
the scattered forces had been removed, and a period
of nine months' steady work could be faced confidently,
when thousands of horses, scores of locomotives, steam-
shovels, and what not had got into stride, the grade
assumed its definite shape in quick time.

It was no simple conquest. Here and there Herculean
efforts on the part of the constructional engineers were
demanded such as one scarcely would expect to be requisite
outside a mountain range, where the heroic is expected
and has to be accomplished. But the rock and muskeg of
the rolling country offered as stern a resistance as any
mountain hump, and at times well-nigh baffled the most
accomplished brains. Every artifice known to the engineers
was pressed into service to overcome some especially
perplexing difficulty, and when such failed new ideas had
to be evolved and be submitted to the test.

On such occasions quiet, hard thinking became impera-
tive. Every man on the particular job in hand was urged
to suggest some practical solution and thereby extend
a helping hand. Any feasible idea, no matter how
ridiculous it appeared at a cursory glance, was attempted.
Sometimes it succeeded, in which event the ingenious
brains which had helped to extricate the engineers from
the quandary were rewarded duly ; if it failed to rise

io8

MUSKEG 109

to the occasion it was simply abandoned, and no more
was heard about it. Desperate straits demand desperate
remedies, and no one knew but that a mere navvy, hand-
ling the pick and shovel from morning to night, though
with years of experience at his back, might conceive
the very means of solving a constructional puzzle.

The swamp occasioned many anxious nights, and
much burning of midnight oil. At places it appeared
to be bottomless. The ballast locomotive would haul
train after train-load of spoil excavated from the ballast
pit, and push it cautiously along to the end of the dump,
where the trucks would be discharged. The • rubble
would rush down the declivity, and as it came into contact
with the surface of the morass there would be a wicked
squelch. Then the bog would open, and slowly, but
surely and silently, the discharged mass would disappear
into the viscous mass until the last vestige had slipped
from sight, and the slime had rolled over the spot, con-
cealing all evidences of the few hundred tons of material
emptied on to the spot but a few minutes before. The
engineer would sound the bog anxiously for signs of the
bottom. Yes, he could feel it all right — 10, 15, perhaps
20 feet below the surface. The trains would continue
to rattle up and down with heavily laden trucks, and send
the contents crashing pell-mell into the swamp below.
Ten train-loads of gravel, rock, and what not would
disappear from sight, and the engineer would probe the
treacherous sponge once more. But the soundings did
not vary a foot. Where had the dump gone ? The ballast
had sunk simply to the bottom of the bog, and had spread
itself out on all sides, finding its own level like water.
The bed of the morass was as broken as the hill-side near
by, and was intersected in all directions by ruts and
gullies. Until these holes were filled there could be no
possible hope of the embankment appearing above the
surface of the bog.

110 A STRAIGHT LINE

So the contractors simply had to keep on dumping and
dumping for hour after hour, day after day, until the
surface of the ridge of ballast at last appeared and re-
mained within sight. Then it was left for a few days,
to ascertain whether settlement had ended, and that
a good solid foundation had been obtained at last. When
all indications pointed that the desired end had been
achieved, then that longitudinal ridge grew rapidly to
the requisite level. The track was laid down hastily and
crudely upon the newly-completed work, and the locomo-
tives pushed the laden trucks a few hundred feet further on.

Thus the advance was made. Sometimes it occupied
weeks to progress 100 feet, for the swamp's appetite ap-
peared insatiable. In more cases than one a whole hill had
to be removed bodily to fill up a " bad place." In the
ballast pit the screeching of steam was heard from morn-
ing to night, as the cumbersome steam shovel, in slow,
measured strokes, dipped its capacious maw into the
bottom of the bank, and with a fearsome scrunching,
scraped its huge steel teeth up the face of the cut to
secure a good bite of spoil, then swung round and disgorged
some three tons of rock, gravel, and clay into the empty
trucks standing alongside.

At other places the grade grew as if by magic. The
country was possibly almost level, and but the minimum
of work was required to build up the solid pathway for
the track of steel. Then the grade would follow a line
almost as straight and direct as that defined by an arrow
in flight, and so gently undulating as to be practically
level. For instance, when standing in the centre of the
track at Cochrane one can look east and west and not
see the slightest sign of a curve. The line disappears
over the horizon through the rectangular cleft in the
trees which looms up distinctly on the sky-line. To the
west it is straight for about 30 miles, while to the east
a similar result prevails for almost the same distance.

RIVERS AND CREEKS 111

A factor which miHtated very appreciably against
rapid construction was the large number of rivers and
creeks which had to be crossed. The railway running
approximately parallel to the range of hills forming the
" height of land " cut across the waterways at right
angles. Some of these rivers are of respectable width,
and the erection of the necessary temporary timber
trestling to provide the constructional trains with facilities
to cross the obstruction, leaving the bridge-work to be
erected later, occupied considerable time. But the men
selected for this work were sent on ahead of the graders —
in some cases they were some 80 miles distant from the
steel — working in a silent isolation, straining every nerve
to get the false-work ready by the time the grade, irre-
sistibly forcing its way forward, gained the bank of the
river.

At other places a wide depression had to be crossed.
The level of the grade was some 20 or 30 feet above the
floor of the valley, which, more often than not, was a
shallow muskeg, with its surface cracked in all directions,
like a mud pond which has dried up in midsummer.
Perhaps it was half a mile or so across. Maybe the end
of steel was 50 miles to the rear, but the builder estimated
that he would reach that depression by such and such a
date. To build up the embankment by dumping the
spoil from the bank, and thus forcing his way foot by
foot across the dip, was too slow.

Consequently a gang of a hundred men or more, with
several teams, lengths of chain, and hooks, were dispatched
to the scene. One party of men armed with axes attacked
the forest, felled the trees, and stripped the trunks of all
branches. As fast as they were cleaned they were bound
up in small bundles by a chain and a team hauled the
mass of poles to the depression. Here another gang
took the logs in hand, and in a short time the building
of a trestle was under way. Perhaps one tier sufficed —

112 MISHAPS

on the other hand, possibly three were necessary. The
uprights for the lower tier were driven into the ground
more or less firnily, and the horizontal members were
nailed up, with here and there a diagonal to add to the
solidity of the structure. The first tier was carried across
the dip, and then the party returned to undertake the
second, followed perhaps by a third tier. When com-
pleted it was a crazy enough structure in all conscience,
and just sufficiently wide at the top to take a pair of
metals.

By the time the trestling was almost completed, and
after, maybe, 10,000 feet of logs had been consumed
in the fashioning of the structure, the grade had reached
the edge of the dip. The engine pushed the laden ballast
train out on to the bending, groaning trestling, which
threatened every moment to collapse under the weight,
there was the movement of a lever, and the contents
of the truck tumbled through the woodwork. Now and
again a length of this flimsy woodwork would give way
or sink, sending a truck flying off the track to strike the
ground 30 feet below with a sickening thud. The mishap
to the truck was nothing. It was the condition of the
unfortunate navvies who had been carried away with it
that occasioned anxiety. If they had rolled clear of the
murderous missile which knocked them off their feet
everybody laughed or cursed — these railway graders are
rough diamonds — but if one had been knocked about
and hurt he was picked up and borne off rapidly to the
hospital to be patched up. As for the truck itself, it was
hauled out, and in a very short time was in service once
more.

The embankment grew around the feet of the trestling
with great rapidity, and it was not long before all signs
of the timber work had disappeared beneath the solid
earthen wall. One might think that the decomposition
of the timber might imperil the safety of the structure,

THE GRADING MACHINE 113

but such is not the case. If the wood does rot, the process
of decay is so slow that it receives compensation from
the periodical overhauling and reballasting of the line,
while in the earliest stages it serves to hold the gravel
fabric together.

The grading machine is an implement well worthy
of watching at work. It may be hauled by a steam
traction engine, or be operated by animal power ; in
either case the result is the same. In general appearance
it recalls a wheat-harvester. There is an inclined shoot,
over which travels an endless chain of small scoops or
buckets such as are used on conveyors. At the bottom,
under the centre of the machine, is a sharp edge, acting
in the same way as a plough. When the machine is set
in motion, the plough tears up the earth and forces the
spoil into the buckets as they pass by on the endless
chain. They are swung up the inclined plane, and as
they round the highest point discharge their contents into
a capacious, horse-drawn hopper waggon, which ambles
along at the same pace as the grader. When the vehicle
is filled it draws to one side to make place for the succeed-
ing empty vehicle, which in its turn drops out when fully
loaded. Consequently, as the grader moves up and down
over a certain length of grade it is accompanied by two
endless streams of vehicles, one of which represents loaded
and the other empty waggons. So fast as the vehicles
are charged they proceed to the point where the embank-
ment is being raised. They reach the edge of the dump
and drive down the declivity. Suddenly there is a whoop,
the horses give a sharp swerve, and simultaneously the
driver depresses a lever, the bottom of the waggon falls
out, and the contents are shot on the dump.

Such a machine obviously can be used only where the
soil is soft, i.e. where it coincides with the " common "
classification of spoil. But it is a machine which plays
sad havoc with the animals, as the work is extremely

114 "SINK-HOLES"

exhausting. I have seen as many as twenty horses hitched
to a single grader in three rows of four abreast marching
in front and hauling the machine, assisted by two rows
of four abreast pushing behind. And every animal has
to strain itself to the utmost, for ploughing off the brow
of, or making a cut through the crest of a mound by this
tool is excessively exacting when continued for hour
after hour up and down a certain stretch, without the
slightest change, and with only a few minutes' rest now
and then.

The muskeg-filler is another trying tool for animal
effort. In this case the edge of the machine scrapes the
surface of the ground, though without forcing the material
into conveyor buckets.

But the " sink-holes " were the spots that occasioned
the greatest anxiety. A length of embankment had been
built ; the locomotives passed to and fro with trains of
ballast to dump miles ahead. The wall of earth appeared
as solid as a masonry structure when work was stopped
for the day. Yet the next morning, when the engineers
appeared, parts of the embankment had subsided, leaving
the rails hanging in graceful festoons in mid-air. The
earthen ridge had sunk so many feet during the night.
When the grade was built there was no indication that
the ground beneath was unstable — everything appeared
as solid and substantial as rock.

Some of these settlements assumed grave proportions
— the whole line for 100 yards or more was thrown into
confusion. This was one of the unexpected factors which
the builders were doomed to encounter. Then the engineer
had to ponder deeply. The only thing he could do was
to keep on dumping until the subsidence ceased, but
the great point was to learn the precise depth of the sink-
hole, since mere dumping only served to add to the super-
imposed weight brought to bear upon the treacherous
ground. If the sink were not very serious this method

Building the Battle River Viaduct

This is the largest metallic structure between Winnipeg and the Pacific,beingii miles
lonebv i8ofeet high in the centre. It crosses the river and the valley of the same
name The overhead traveller is seen setting one of the '"bents or tower-pieces in

nam
position

A "Sink" in the Grade

At places, owing to the soft character of the ground, the embankment settled down in a mass for a
depth of thirty feet or more. Then the grade had to be built up again on a mattress of tree-logs
and branches woven together.

An ExciiiNG Moment at the Clover Bar Bridge

To facilitate communication between the piers and the banks a gangway was laid athwart the
river at low water. In the spring the water rises several feet and rushes along lumultuously. This
photograph shows the situation just as the river has risen to the level of the gangway and is break-
ing it up.

A MATTRESS OF TREE TRUNKS 115

would prove successful, but when it affected a great
length of line, and amounted to several feet, it assumed
a different aspect entirely.

When dumping pure and simple did not solve the
problem, an ingenious expedient was adopted, both in
regard to sink-holes and swamps which appeared to be
capable of swallowing spoil indefinitely. The embank-
ment was built on the corduroy. This is simply a thick
mattress formed of tree trunks laid and woven together
to form a solid, homogeneous whole, the various layers
of logs being disposed in different directions, and all
tightly secured together to prevent movement. This
mattress was laid down, and the embankment built
thereon. Under the weight of the earth the corduroy
sank until it compressed the unstable ground beneath
to its limit, when the mat rested firmly in position and
the embankment could be piled up thereon in absolute
safety. There is little danger of this foundation collapsing,
inasmuch as it cannot decay — in fact, the probability
is that it will increase in strength with the lapse of time,
owing to the wood becoming water-logged and forming a
dense, hard material similar to bog-oak, which will last
and fulfil its purpose to the end of time.

Work was forced ahead during the winter ; there was
no pause for snow or frost. The men might grow weary
of their lonely situation and extreme remoteness from
the haunts of civilisation — might long intensely for a
night in a saloon, or a few hours in a gambling hell. But
they could not get through that terrifying forest resound-
ing with the music of the timber wolves pressed with
hunger. The dark trees, held tightly in the grip of frost
and snow, were an impenetrable barrier ; they hemmed
in the small colonies far more securely than prison bars ;
the grade during the winter was a penitentiary. The
men had to work ; there was no alternative but to starve
and perish.

116 A DREARY MARCH

Now and again restless spirits endeavoured to break
their fetters. Port Arthur and Fort William were so
alluring to the gangs around Lake Nipigon that they
could not resist the desire to run the gauntlet through
100 miles of snow-bound land in the embrace of a cold
60 degrees below freezing-point, and a silence that was
maddening. With a cheery farewell a party would leave
the camp. The old dogs basking in the warmth of the
cook's glowing stove would nod their heads significantly.
If the intrepid ne'er-do-wells did not return to camp
within a week as emaciated specimens of humanity as
you could wish to see, then the merciless frost would hold
its secret tightly until the winter broke, and the bleached
skeletons would be found lying under a " fly " stretched
under the trees. How they died would never be known,
but the canine teeth imprints on the bones would suggest
only too poignantly the last phase.

Yet at times it became necessary to break through
the bonds of snow and ice. One engineer related to me
a story which for adventure and sensation scarcely could
be equalled. He received orders to make his way to the
grade. How he was to get there was a matter for his own
ingenuity and courage. He had to take a party in with
him. Nipigon town was his starting-point, and there
was a dreary, solid 100 miles' toil through the hardest
conceivable country confronting them. He collected a
dog-team and sleighs, and loaded them up with an ample
supply of provisions and other requisites. As they were
leaving Nipigon town a sturdy half-breed boy wanted
to accompany them. He was young, and the engineer,
not wishing to be hampered unduly, refused the proffered
assistance, since every additional mouth to feed was a
consideration. But the youth was not to be denied.
He could show them the way, and might be useful if
they got into a tight corner. No more was said, and so
the little party plunged boldly into the snow-bound wilds.

A PLUCKY HALF BREED 117

They made good progress until the water-broken country
was gained. As they were striking their way northward
a terrific blizzard broke over them. They did not pause,
but pushed on as bravely as possible. The snow fell
so thickly that they could not see a yard before them,
and the circling flakes threatened them with extinction.
The crisp sound beneath their feet betokened the fact
that they were making their way over the treacherous
slush, so they advanced warily. Suddenly there was an
ominous crash, one of the sleighs gave a wicked lurch,
and was just disappearing from sight when, by a super-
human tug at the lines by which they were holding
the vehicle, the party just saved it from immersion,
but not before the majority of them had become soaked
to their waists. Their frantic endeavours to save the
sleigh, however, broke up the ice in all directions. When
they regained the bank they examined their belongings,
and, to their utter dismay, found that the transit had
slipped off the sleigh in the mishap, and was now lying
submerged in the slush. What was to be done ? The
party were on the horns of a dilemma. To go forward
was useless, for the engineer without his transit was as
helpless as a millionaire marooned on a rock.

Suddenly the half-breed boy thrust himself to the
front. He had come with the party unbidden, and now
he would attempt something to justify his presence.
He would try to find the transit. He scuttled back
to the point where the accident had occurred, the rest
of the party following cautiously behind to ascertain
what he was going to do. Following the trail, the young
half-breed reached the hole, and without more ado plunged
into the freezing mass. Seconds passed and he did not
reappear. Then there was a commotion, and his matted
head shot up from the murky liquid. He had failed, but
he emerged just to take a breather. Three times he
repeated his dive without success, but on the fourth

118 A PLUCKY HALF BREED

attempt, as he emerged from the uninviting water, he
was observed to be pulling at something with all his
might. A helping hand was stretched out, and it was
found that he had recovered the lost transit ! The engineer
gave a sigh of relief and took the young half-breed under
his charge. They gained the forest, pitched camp, and
in the heat of the fire the intrepid boy dried his clothes
on his frozen frame and looked little the worse for his
adventure.

But not so the engineer. The party pushed ahead,
but the chief gave signs of being in pain. He had diffi-
culty in breathing ; each inhalation shot through his
lungs like a knife. He became worse as he proceeded.
They gained the grade and the camps, where a little
rest and rough frontier care eased him somewhat. But
he was far from being well, and at last it was decided
that he should return to civilisation for treatment. The
half-breed offered to steer him back. The twain set off
with the sleigh and dog-team. Though racked with
pain, the engineer struggled along. Every night when
they pitched the camp the half-breed waited tenderly
upon his chief, made him as snug as circumstances would
permit, and never left him for an instant, performing
every task. The youngster appeared to have a constitution
of steel,' and to be possessed of tireless energy.
! At last, after five days' hard struggling through the
backwoods, civilisation was regained, and the engineer,
almost on the point of collapse, was hurried to a doctor.
A brief diagnosis revealed his illness — it was pleurisy,
and the wonder was that he had not succumbed. Under
skilled attention he recovered his health completely,
and once more set out through the snow and slush to
rejoin his companions up-country with the young half-
breed as his bosom companion. I met the engineer in
the wilds, and his appreciation of that young half-breed
knew no bounds. The boy subsequently left them ;

DYNAMITE AND GUNPOWDER 119

whither he went no one knew, but the chief missedjhis
companionship sorely.

While the upper stretches of New Ontario and Quebec
were occasioning the engineers many anxious moments,
owing to the eccentricities of the muskeg and swamp,
the graders advancing eastwards from Winnipeg were
in close grips with rock, which offered a most stubborn
resistance. For the first 75 miles the going was excellent,
as it was the eastern fringe of the great prairie that had
to be overcome, but once the invisible line of demarcation
between Manitoba and Ontario was crossed, the character
of the country changed with startling suddenness. For
mile after mile it was a ceaseless boring through rock
of the hardest character ; rock which could not be moved
or penetrated without the aid of dynamite and gunpowder.
Some of the cuts that had to be made through this material
were of stupendous proportions, not perhaps so much
on account of the height of the wall on either side of the
track, as because of its continuous length. When the
rocky barrier gained a sufficient height, the cutting of an
open rectangular channel was abandoned in favour
of a burrow, but tunnelling was reduced to the mini-
mum.

For hour after hour, day after day, month after month,
nothing was heard but the chink-chink of drills and the
devastating roar of explosive with its splitting and dis-
integrating work. Advance was exceedingly slow, some
of the blasts requiring as much as six weeks or more to
prepare, and then only breaking up sufficient of the granite
mass to permit of an advance of about 200 feet. Swedes
and Italians, from their long experience in rock-working,
gloried in this country. Employment was steady and
continuous, while, in view of the fact that such work
commanded the highest wages, it proved highly attractive
to men who are born rock-hogs. Scarcely a day went
by without a vicious upheaval, and an ugly wound was

120 A TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION

torn in the surface of the ground as a whole mound or
hill was sent into the air in fragments.

Some of these blasts were of huge proportions. There
was one in particular along the shore of Lake Pelican.
A huge cliff barred the advance of the grade, and there
was no alternative but to blow it away bodily. Shafts
were sunk into, and galleries were driven on all sides at
the bottom of, the obstacle. The drills toiled incessantly
for six months preparing the pockets for the reception
of the explosives. Dynamite and black powder to the
value of $5000, or £1000, were rammed into the base
of the cliff, and the whole was then fired. The shock
was terrific, but the " shot " scattered 14,000 cubic
yards, or, say, 30,000 tons of rock, of which some 6000
tons were hurled into the lake, and the grade was
able to proceed on its way for a further few hundred
feet.

It was on work of this nature where the greatest
number of accidents occurred, the majority of which
might have been avoided had the men engaged in the
operations displayed but ordinary care. Dynamite and
flying rock were the greatest contributors to the casualty
list and death-roll, although the men engaged in the
work were among the most expert it was possible to
find. But their very dexterity and skill proved their
undoing ; the fact that their task was beset with more
than usual danger served to tempt Fate. " Familiarity
breeds contempt " is a well-worn axiom, and when it is
associated with such an agent as dynamite, the result
invariably is somewhat disastrous to everyone in the
vicinity of the spot where the adage is subjected to the
test. These men are so accustomed to handling sticks
of dynamite that they regard it with the same nonchalance
as a navvy does his pick-axe.

True, there is no danger to be feared from this devastating
agent so long as it is treated with a certain amount of

Building a Wooden Trestle

The upright members are disposed in rows of five, the outer log on
either side being set inwards at a slight angle. The whole are clamped
together by iron dogs to secure solidity. The "bent," as it is called, is
generally twenty-five feet in height.

The "Stone-Boat"

For the removal of the rock as it is blasted out the " stone-boat " is used extensively.
It consists of a flat scoop hauled by a team of horses along a rough track consisting of
tree-trunks laid on the ground in two parallel lines. The logs are faced roughly flat,
and sometimes are greased to facilitate the movement of the curious vehicle.

THE CASUALTY LIST 121

respect, but it resents strongly the rude treatment meted
out by the rough-and-ready rock-hog. This is especially
the case in winter. The thermometer dropping down
to the sixties freezes the dynamite as readily almost
as it congeals water. When the rock-hog finds this to
have occurred he merely proceeds to thaw out the dynamite
by placing it near the fire ! He knows only too well that
thereby the explosive is rendered a thousand times more
dangerous, that thawing livens the agent extremely
and makes it intensely " tender," but that does not matter :
it is treated just as unceremoniously as when in the grip
of frost. In the course of seven months on this section
alone out of a casualty list of 42 killed and 10 wounded,
35 met their deaths and 9 were injured by explosion,
5 other deaths and 1 injury arising from being struck
by rock. Dynamite was responsible for more deaths
on this undertaking than any other accident — ^the collapse
of the Quebec Bridge notwithstanding — and sickness
combined.

Had the authorities not been so watchful the list
of killed and wounded would have been far more for-
midable. It was only by instilling into the minds of the
rock-hogs the broad fact that they imperilled more than
their individual lives by handling the treacherous stuff
as if it were a toy, that accidents were kept well within
bounds. The men working in the rock carried their
lives in their hands. If they did not respond readily
to the signal to " stand clear," they were certain to be
overwhelmed.

I saw men time after time retreating but a short distance
from the blast, and observed large pieces of rock miss
them by inches only. Did they wince ? Not by any
means ; they regarded such missiles with as much con-
tempt as hailstones. The rock-hog lives a haphazard,
happy-go-lucky life. He believes in the saj^ing that a
piece of jagged rock which misses him by an inch might

122 THE STONE-BOAT

just as well have been a mile away, and laughs jarringly
when you start at his narrow escape.

Then again, many are so anxious to resume work on
the debris after the blast is fired that they do not give
a thought to the fact that some shots may have missed,
or hung, fire. They only discover the error of their judg-
ment when the missed shot is beaten into life by an
unlucky blow from some tool, to spread death and
wounds quickly on all sides. These rough men take
exceedingly long chances. To them dynamite is but a
means to an end — a tool just as much as a pick-axe,
which enables them to secure a high price for their
work, and to draw a large sum of money when they
want to go out.

Ere the grumble and rumble of the blast has died
down, and before the plume of smoke has dissipated
itself in the sky, the men swarm over the pulverised
pile. The rock is broken up into all shapes and sizes.
Then the stone-boat is hurried up, and the process of
removing the debris to make way for the narrow iron
road goes forward merrily.

The stone-boat is a peculiar vehicle incidental to
America, and has nothing whatever to do with the water.
It resembles a huge metal tray or shovel hauled by a
team of horses. And its special path is as novel as the
boat itself. It is only two wooden lines fashioned from
tree logs adzed roughly flat on the upper side, well greased,
and laid promiscuously and roughly parallel on the
ground. The stone is prized and levered on to the tray,
and hauled with a speed, which, bearing in mind the
primitive road, is astonishing, to the dump, where a
sharp swing round on the part of the horses pitches
the mass down the bank.

But though the rock is hard and it teases the builders
to a supreme degree, it has one compensating advantage.
It secures a bed for the railway of magnificent solidity.

THE STONE-BOAT 123

On the other hand, it means that a certain mileage of
unproductive country has to be traversed, where there
are no claims to scenic attraction. But there is a possi-
bility that this rocky stretch will yet have its day. Traces
of mineral have been found, and should these be present
in sufficiently attractive quantities, it is just possible
that the exploitation of the country will prove profitable
to the mining industry. I heard rumours of some highly
promising " strikes," and a mineral rush to the country
around Lake Nipigon is by no means remote.

CHAPTER IX

THE QUEBEC BRIDGE, THE LARGEST CANTILEVER
STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD

EVERY great railway undertaking possesses some
feature of supreme engineering interest which
towers far and away above everything else on the system
in the eyes of the public. This focus of popular interest
in the present case is the colossal bridge which will carry
the railway across the St. Lawrence River near the City
of Quebec. This busy water avenue of Eastern Canada
here rolls between lofty banks on either side, those to
the north forming the historic Heights of Abraham.
The crossing of the river demanded elaborate and search-
ing investigation, as Quebec, being the premier port on
the waterway, had to be brought into touch with both
eastern and western seaboards, by means of the new
artery of steel. This was no easy matter, inasmuch as
the mercantile traffic on the St. Lawrence is considerable,
ocean liners, while calling at Quebec, proceeding farther
up the river to Montreal, while freight boats penetrate
to the Great Lakes.

It was recognised, if bridging were adopted, that the
structure would have to be of huge proportions, and that
the rails would have to be carried at a great height above
the water, to enable the large vessels to pass beneath.
Owing to the height of the banks on either side the question
of the approaches was comparatively unimportant, since
the grade could be secured without any great difficulty.
The crossing of the navigable channel constituted the
most difficult problem, for at this point the river is over
1200 feet in width.

As such a bridge would represent a far more stupendous

124

A COLOSSAL BRIDGE 125

undertaking than any previous effort in this field of
engineering, where the " unknown element " would
assume more startling proportions, there was a certain
reluctance in some quarters to embark upon a record-
breaking enterprise. As a result the possibility of
tunnelling the river was discussed in all its bearings,
but this was found to be quite impracticable at a reason-
able expenditure, and so was abandoned. A ferry service
of large boats capable of handling a whole train, somewhat
similar to those plying across Lake Ontario between
Cobourg and Charlotte, was out of the question also,
as this means of solving the problem would be inoperative
for several months during the year when the waterway
was closed with ice.

The upshot of the deliberations was the decision to
carry a bridge across the river. The authorities were
emboldened to take this step, owing to the success of
that engineering feat in connection with the spanning
of the Firth of Forth. They reasoned that if a single
span of 1710 feet were possible of erection, and could
stand the test of time, that a span only a few feet longer
should be equally practicable. Consequently a cantilever
bridge springing across the river in a single leap of 1800
feet, with a clear space of 150 feet between the rails
and high water, was designed.

Certainly it was a magnificent and imposing structure
that was contemplated, and the realisation of the scheme
was taken in hand by one of the largest and most ex-
perienced bridge-building firms in the United States.
American engineers ever since the Forth Bridge was
completed had been longing for the opportunity to be
able to eclipse the Scottish wonder of the world, and
consequently this chance of gratifying ambition was
seized on with avidity. Everything was planned upon
a huge scale. From end to end the bridge was to measure
2800 feet, built up of two approach deck spans 210 feet

126 A COLOSSAL BRIDGE

in length, leading from either bank. Each of these spans
was to lead to a cantilever, the shore arm of which was
to be 510 feet in length, while the opposite arm was to
reach out over the water for a distance of 562 1 feet.
When these were erected the space between the two
projecting arms was to be filled by a truss span measuring
675 feet from end to end, which in itself would be the
longest simple truss span that had ever been built. The
piers for supporting the cantilevers were placed as near
the water's edge as possible, so as to reduce the obstruction
to the river to the minimum, and were built of masonry.
From the level of these piers the steel work was to tower
upwards to a height of 315 feet, this being the greatest
depth of the cantilever, while the least depth of the latter,
97 feet, was at the portals.

Such a structure was to be made to satisfy the demands
of the community to the utmost extent, for the problem
of affording easy communication between the opposite
sides of the river has been one which has perplexed
Canadian authorities for years, the ferry service being
regarded as incompatible with modern methods. Conse-
quently, in addition to carrying two pairs of railway
metals for the heaviest freight locomotives and trains of
to-day, there were to be two sets of metals for electric tram-
ways, two thoroughfares for vehicular traffic, and two
pavements for pedestrians. The whole were to be placed
on the same level, the width of the bridge being 67 feet

By the time this structure was completed it was com-
puted that some 38,500 tons of steel would have been
used, at a cost of $3,000,000, or £600,000, while the
total cost of the undertaking was estimated to be from
$6,000,000 to §7,000,000— from £1,200,000 to £1,400,000.
Yet it was agreed that such an expenditure, huge though
it was, would have been laid out to conspicuous public
advantage, for the benefits from it would be felt through-
out the whole of the Dominion. The civic authorities

The Quebfx Bridge Before the Accident

This structure spanning the St. Lawrence was to be the largest cantilever bridge in
the world, with a main span of 1800 feet, and the rails 150 feet above the water. Some
800 feet of the main span had been constructed when the whole fabric collapsed.

The Quebec Bridge After the Accident

About 18,000 tons of steel had been set in position when through the failure of a
bottom rib of steel near the pier the whole mass settled upon itself into the river.
Seventy-four workmen lost their lives in this calamity. A new bridge is now in course
of erection across the river.

A COLOSSAL BRIDGE 127

of Quebec and, the Provincial Government demonstrated
their appreciation of the scheme by contributing tangible
assistance in the form of subsidies of $300,000, or £60,000,
and $250,000, or £50,000, in return for the facilities in
trans-river communication, from which they would reap
incalculable benefit.

The scheme, once approved, was hurried forward
with all possible speed, in the expectancy that it would
be completed by the time the new highway from coast
to coast was opened. A period of seven years was ex-
pected to be occupied in the task. While the preliminary
work in regard to the construction of the piers was in
progress the steel was collected on the spot, and the ap-
proach spans pushed forward. The work was commenced
in 1902, and in July, 1905, the main cantilever construction
was taken in hand. In the early stages progress was somewhat
hampered by the fact that work was only possible for about
six months during the year, and in 1906, owing to the
severity of the winter, operations were somewhat retarded.

The southern cantilever was taken in hand first, the
shore arm being erected upon a massive timber false-
work. When this was completed the erection of the arm
projecting over the river was commenced. By the aid
of the travellers, or large erecting cages, the work was
built outwards on the overhang principle, that is to say,
the projecting arm was not supported on false-work,
but was balanced by the weight of the shore arm. Two
travellers were in use, one a small appliance weighing
250 tons, employed for setting the outermost ribs of steel
in position, and another massive structure 300 feet in
height, and weighing 750 tons, which was used for the
erection of the central and highest portion of the canti-
lever. The latter was completed without accident,
and then the smaller traveller was forced forward to
build one half of the central simple truss span, whereby
the opposite cantilevers were to be connected together.

128 DANGEROUS SIGNS

The skeleton of steel was projecting about 800 feet
from the main pier, was within less than 400 feet of the
centre of the river, and in all about 1300 feet of the bridge,
representing 18,000 tons of steel, had been set in position.
The engineers followed the work minutely, making
elaborate and detailed records of all deflections and
movements of the structure, as the traveller thrust its
way farther and farther away from the shore. The strains
and stresses set up under these changing conditions, for
such a mass of steel is as sensitive as the nervous system of
the human body, were calculated continuously.

About the second week in August, 1907, one of the
engineers associated with the enterprise observed signs
of incipient weakness in one bottom rib of steel near
the pier on the shore side. The matter was investigated,
and the resident engineer, being perturbed by this eccen-
tricity on the part of the piece of metal, dispatched a
colleague post-haste to New York to record the circum-
stance to the consulting engineer to the enterprise —
one of the foremost luminaries in this branch of engineering
in the United States — ^while another was sent to the
American works of the bridge-building firm on a similar
errand. Construction, however, was continued without
a pause until August 29th, 1907.

It was a calm summer's afternoon. The hooter had
sounded the call to cease work for the day, and some eighty-
five men were descending from their perilous situations
in mid-air to gain the shore. At that very moment the
constructional engineers were drafting a message to the
resident engineer to suspend operations until the cause
of the weakness in the failing rib of steel had been in-
vestigated by experts who were hurrying north. It was un-
fortunate that the message was not dispatched earlier, for
suddenly the gigantic network of steel, without the slightest
warning, tumbled into the river, carrying some eighty -five
men with it, of whom only eleven were rescued.

A TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE 129

The catastrophe was so sudden that no one for a moment
grasped really what had happened. Where a minute
before the outline of one half of a handsome bridge was
limned against the cloudless sky, was now nothing but
a tumbled, torn, and twisted mass of steel debris lying
in the river, and pinning down seventy-four men. The
accident was astonishing, inasmuch as the whole mass
did not topple over to one side, but simply settled down
upon itself under its own weight, as if it were a house of
cards.

The calamity, so swift and complete, sent a tremor
through the whole world, not so much on account of
the terrible loss of life which rendered the accident more
tragic, but because theories which had been followed
tenaciously by bridge -builders were scattered to the
four winds. It was admitted that this structure repre-
sented the last word in bridge-building and engineering
science, and that the design represented the result of
three years' incessant labour on the part of the foremost
engineers on the continent. Yet all that skill and accumu-
lated knowledge proved of no avail — it was shattered
completely within two minutes. Some 18,000 tons of
steel and thousands of pounds were lying now at the
bottom of the St. Lawrence.

The shock struck the American bridge-builders with
greater force than it did their British colleagues in this
same branch of engineering. The latter had regarded
the design askance ever since it first saw the light, for
it was considered to be too light, while American bridge-
building design and operations on the whole never had
proved attractive to them. When the Forth Bridge
was completed a well-known American bridge-engineer
remarked that enough steel had been used to build several
structures of a like character, but Sir Henry Fowler,
Sir Benjamin Baker, and Messrs. Arrol and Sons incurred
no risks ; they took no chances, realising that they were

130 NEW DESIGNS

attempting a task of unprecedented magnitude. The
Quebec Bridge constituted the latest expression of this
work from the American standjooint, and their skill had
proved to be sadly wanting. Certainly the Americans
have not recovered from the terrible blow that this accident
dealt their prestige and prowess, for ever since American
methods have been regarded with considerable suspicion,
which, however, is not justified entirely.

But the accident, though costly and attended with
a lamentable loss of life, bore its fruit. A searching
investigation as to the causes of the disaster was made,
and many striking deficiencies in the modern knowledge
of steel and bridge-designing were brought to light.
The financial loss was heavy, especially as in addition
to the steel which had been erected, and now was worth
no more than junk, the balance of 20,000 tons was in
readiness for transportation from the works to the northern
bank of the St. Lawrence. This necessarily was thrown
back on the builders' hands, as it was useless for its in-
tended purpose.

But the Canadian Government resolved that the St.
Lawrence should be spanned by a bridge, if such were
humanly possible, though they were determined to run
no risk of incurring a repetition of an accident of this
nature. A Board of engineers was appointed to discuss
and prepare designs for a second bridge. As a result of three
years' labour and the expenditure of $250,000, or £50,000,
a design was evolved by the joint efforts of the Commission.
Bridge-builders were invited from all parts of the world
to submit tenders based on the official specifications,
and also upon alternative schemes of their own, the
Government thus hoping to secure the best product of
engineering science. In the official design the length
of the cantilever span was reduced from 1800 to 1758
feet. Five companies submitted tenders both on the
official and their own individual plans, the number in-

NEW DESIGNS 181

eluding one Canadian, two German, one British, and one
United States firms, while no less than thirty -eight different
plans were laid before the Commission. After careful
consideration, the majority of the Board decided upon
the plans of the Canadian company, which differs entirely
from the official design, and the work of erection has
commenced.

But the new bridge is by no means so ambitious as
that first attempted, nor is it so comprehensive as that
evolved by the Board. The latter called for two road-
ways, in addition to the railway tracks, but the former
have been suppressed in the accepted design, which
virtually becomes a railway bridge purely and simply,
there being only a pavement on either side for pedestrian
traffic. Moreover, the accepted design does not provide
for such a heavy bridge as was arranged, the calculations
being based upon the use of a lighter locomotive and
train. The outcome of this arrangement is that the
requisite amount of steel is reduced very materially
with a corresponding reduction in the cost of the
structure.

The variations in the tendered prices for the work
were very marked, ranging from $10,000,000, or £3,200,000,
for a bridge as proposed by the Commission, to $8,650,000,
or £1,730,000, for the accepted design. The amount
of steel required for the completion of the scheme is
reduced very extensively also, for whereas the official
specifications would have required about 66,000 tons —
almost double the quantity forming the first structure —
the accepted design calls for the consumption of 43,750
tons of metal. The length of the span, however, remains
the same, namely 1800 feet, while the top of the cantilever
will be 310 feet above the top of the pier. Owing to the
elimination of the roadways, which reduces the utilitarian
value of this connecting link, the subsidies extended by
the City and Province of Quebec have been returned,

132 NEW DESIGNS

the Government undertaking sole responsibility for the
financial outlay upon the bridge.

It must be jiointed out that so far as the Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway is concerned no financial responsibility
whatever has been incurred. The Dominion undertook
the enterprise as a separate and distinct project, the
railway not being called upon to contribute a single cent
towards its erection. Though through rail traffic from
coast to coast via Quebec will be delayed for a few years
to come, an alternative route is available. The Grand
Trunk Pacific trains will leave the new trans-continental
line at Cochrane, to follow the track of the Temiskaming
and Northern Ontario line, to North Bay, where junction
is effected with the Grand Trunk Railway system, running
to Toronto and thence to Montreal. Here the St. Lawrence
River is crossed over the Victoria Jubilee Bridge, a famous
structure nearly two miles long, and the southern bank
of the river is followed to Levis, opposite Quebec. At
this point the Grand Trunk Pacific line will be entered
again and followed to Moncton. This route always will
be of great value, even when the Quebec Bridge is com-
pleted, as it brings the west into direct touch with the
manufacturing centres of the east. Moreover, it will
provide the Grand Trunk Pacific with an alternative
route to Halifax and St. John.

However, no time will be wasted in carrying the new
structure to completion, and while erection is in progress
a ferry service will maintain communication between
the opposite ends of the trans-continental railway.
There is one point which is forced powerfully to the front
as a result of this amended undertaking. It will give
a pronounced fillip to Canadian bridge-building enter-
prise, and the successful conclusion of this work will
render the Dominion, with its enormous resources, a
powerful competitor to the United States in a further
field of engineering endeavour.

CHAPTER X

SPANNING THE PRAIRIE WITH THE BOND OF STEEL

THE construction of the second division of 1756
miles between Winnipeg and the Pacific Coast
differed entirely from the building of the section between
the capital of Manitoba and the Atlantic sea-board at
Moncton. Here the two extremes of conditions in rail-
way engineering have been encountered. First there
was the prairie section extending uninterruptedly for
916 miles west of Winnipeg, where the technical diffi-
culties to be overcome were of a trifling nature, and where
the work could be carried out very rapidly, followed
by a stretch presenting diametrically opposite character-
istics— 840 miles through heavy mountainous country,
involving the penetration of two formidable ranges before
the coast was gained.

So far as the first 1000 miles were concerned, the face
of the country is for the most part gently undulating,
comprising a succession of steppes such as the famous
Carberry Plains, divided by low hills, running up to
a height of 2500 feet, recalling the sparsely wooded
natural sylvan parks of England. On this section the
heaviest difficulties involved were in connection with
spanning the wide-yawning valleys at the bottom of
which noble rivers made their way. In some cases these
channels were of tremendous width, with the breadth
of the stream out of all proportion to the deep, wide gap
it had cut during the flight of centuries, thereby testifying
to the remarkable eroding forces of Nature. At times

133

134 PORTAGE-LA-PRAIRIE

the bridging of these waterways presented some pretty
problems in order to preserve the grade, for the water
had carved a channel which offered nothing but a gorge
with the banks rising sheer up from the water's edge
to a height of 150 or 200 feet.

But little difficulty was experienced in fulfilling the
official requirements regarding grade and curvature
throughout the whole distance of 916 miles from Winnipeg
to Wolf Creek, whence commences the Mountain Division,
although the Rockies are about 100 miles beyond ; in this
distance there is no gradient against east-bound traffic ex-
ceeding 21 feet to the mile. It was found impossible, how-
ever, to find an easier grade than 26*4 feet per mile adverse
to west-bound trains between Winnipeg and Biggar, a
distance of 766*6 miles. What this means to the heavy
traffic of the west, when engines are called upon to haul a
train of wheat extending for about a third of a mile, may
be imagined, and throughout the whole country, as a
result of my conversations with the farmers, I learned
that the easy grade of the Grand Trunk Pacific was re-
garded by them as holding the key to the whole future of
the north-west.

After leaving Winnipeg the railway runs due west
through a thickly populated and settled country for
54*3 miles to Portage-La-Prairie, so called because the
voyageurs of old, in their northward trek, here left the
Assiniboine River to portage across the narrow neck
of prairie to gain Lake Manitoba. Very little scope was
offered here to run through new territory for some 113
miles, seeing that the proximity of the Manitoba Lake
country compels railways and other roads of communica-
tion running east and west to keep to the south, and as
Winnipeg has become the clearing-house of the Prairie,
and commercially the centre of Canada, the various lines
are necessarily within easy reach of one another. Portage-
La-Prairie is a busy junction ; four main lines and trans-

A STREAM OF SETTLERS 135

continental railways run through it — the Grand Trunk
Pacific, the Canadian Pacific, the Canadian Northern,
and the Great Northern of the United States.

The advance of the sinuous metal snake forming the
Grand Trunk Pacific was accompanied by a develop-
ment which is unique in the annals of railway expansion.
So soon as the project was decided definitely, and before
the constructional engineers had signed their contracts,
a steady stream of settlers poured into the country.
They had learned the location of the line, so pushed ahead
of construction and settled upon the virgin prairie. Had
any unforeseen factor developed to delay the fulfilment
of the project, such as a financial panic, or what not,
a terrible economic disaster would have been precipitated.
These hardy pioneers were not to be denied or dissuaded
from their purpose. They had heard about the bounteous,
prolific, fertile character of the land which the new line
was to traverse, and were fully cognisant of the fact
that if they waited until the undertaking was completed
and perfect communication was secured, the land would
rise to a prohibitive figure, so they burned their boats
behind them, and set out bravely for the new land of
promise.

By invading the country ahead of the constructional
armies, they were in a position to purchase their land
at the rock-bottom price. This was their argument,
and they lost no time in putting it into execution.

Yet it was a perfectly judicious, logical, and enter-
prising proceeding. However, the railway did not antici-
pate the sequel. The rail was pushed forward as fast
as was humanly possible, but its advance did not coincide
with the rapidity with which the farmers were able to
bring the land into bearing. The builders were handi-
capped by shortage of labour during the summer, for
the farms absorbed every man looking for work. The
result was that the early farmers found the harvest upon

136 A SOLUTION

them with no means of getting their produce to market !
What was to be done ? The line was in an incomplete
condition, so railway transportation appeared absolutely
out of the question.

One or two of the hardest-headed farmers put their
brains together and attempted to evolve a way out of
the difficulty. Could the railway-builders introduce a
few freight cars laden with wheat into the accommodation
trains ? The former came up the grade laden to the utmost
with all the materials required for construction, but they
had a comparatively empty return journey. By attaching
laden grain cars to the backward run, the latter could be
made somewhat remunerative. The project was con-
sidered by the builders. They did not regard the sug-
gestion with favour, as construction trains, owing to
the incomplete character of the permanent way, have
unhappy tendencies of running off the metals at times,
and although these mishaps played havoc somewhat with
the trucks, still they did not hurt them to any great degree.
With laden wheat cars, however, it was a different matter.
It would not demand a very smart concussion to splinter
such a vehicle and to distribute its precious contents of
grain over the track. However, the farmers decided
to take the risk. Accordingly a strange spectacle, un-
paralleled in the Far West, was witnessed. An empty
construction train, with its strange assortment of sorely
battered, decrepit-looking cars, was to be seen making
its return journey to the base of supplies with several
box-cars laden to the full with grain. It was but an
experiment, but it served to extricate the farmers from
a precarious situation.

When the labour problem righted itself after the wheat
was harvested, and the discharged farm hands flocked
to the railway to earn sufficient to carry them through
the dreary winter months, the builders crowded on every
ounce of pressure to force the railway forward. Yet

TREELESS DISTRICTS 137

this was not always feasible. The prairie may be level
and lend itself to rapid construction, but it has its own
peculiar drawbacks. In the first place the country could
not yield a tree ! Every foot of timber had to be hauled
from remote points, and by the time it gained the site
of construction it represented a heavy outlay. A culvert
would be delayed because the temporary wooden baulks
had not arrived ; the track could not be laid as there
were no sleepers available ; and so on. When a huge
timber trestle to span a river and valley temporarily
became necessary, the situation became far more serious.
These structures, from the configuration of the country,
assumed huge proportions — half a million feet of timber
were soon consumed. And they were no mere slips either,
but lengthy, bulky, heavy, squared logs felled in the
forests of British Columbia, Washington, or some other
state on the Pacific Coast, which had to be hauled, maybe,
some 3000 miles. No matter how sharp an eye was
maintained upon their transit, and despite the expedition
of their dispatch, the trains bearing these loads would
be delayed in the course of their lengthy journey, while
now and again one would meet with accident while thread-
ing the great mountain passes. Then again, when the
wood had been brought to the constructional base, maybe
it was required actually for building purposes about
30 miles ahead of the end of steel, inasmuch as the con-
tracts varied from 100 to 150 miles in length, grading on
which was commenced at twenty or thirty points simul-
taneously, the various points being connected by a waggon
road.

When it came to transit by team and waggon to the
site of erection the situation assumed a grave aspect.
The road was but a track over the prairie. In dry weather
it was passable enough, and movement could be made fairly
quickly through ten or twelve inches of dust. But
when the wet season broke, and that dust was converted

138 HEART-BREAKING TASKS

into mud as glutinous as gum, it was a difficult task
indeed that confronted the freighters. A load of baulks
possibly 30 feet long by 10 inches square was a massive
weight to haul through country having the consistency
of a bog. The freighters worked on a weight basis —
possibly 5 cents, say 2|, per pound, irrespective of distance
of haul — and they had a heart-breaking task to make
the job financially profitable to themselves. Such a
system has its advantages, since the more journeys that
could be made in a given time, the more they could earn,
but many a weather-worn old freighter confessed to me
that it was killing work.

I met them time after time struggling through the
rain and slime with their massive loads. They jogged
along at a steady pace from early morn to late at night,
making no more pauses during the day than were down-
right necessary. When they met a difficulty in the form
of a mud-hole, the hours sped by like magic. Their
advance was trantically heroic ! The horses were immersed
up to their girths, the axles of the wheels could not be
seen for slime, and the men themselves waded waist-
high through the morass, adjuring their horses, and
endeavouring to extend assistance by shouldering the
wheels. On the dry road they could count upon a steady
mile or mile and a half an hour, but when they reached a
" bad place "100 feet in the same length of time was good
going. I saw one load of timber floundering in the grips
of a mud-hole, and the freighters were in a sorry plight.
The " bad place " was barely 100 feet across, but when
the centre was gained, nothing of the vehicle was to be
seen. Only the baulks of timber indicated that something
on wheels was underneath. A solid hour and a half had
been occupied in going 50 feet forward, and there the
vehicle settled down. The horses were played out, and
the men were exhausted. The animals were unhitched and
pulled, rather than led, from the bog on to dry land to

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A "BAD PLACE" 139

take a short rest, the men seizing the opportunity for a
hasty meal to reinvigorate their expended energies.

By the time they had decided to resume operations
another laden vehicle had arrived on their heels. The
situation was discussed, and the driver of the second
vehicle offered to lend his two horses in return for a similar
compliment. Thus four horses and four men essayed the
task of extricating the first vehicle. By dint of super-
human pushing and pulling it was forced inch by inch to
the other side, but an hour was expended in the ordeal.
The second waggon was then taken in hand. It was not
laden so heavily, and so an hour sufficed for it to cross
the treacherous 100 feet. And this for less than 3d.
per pound ! The worn, hardened old freighters sighed
sadly as they recalled memories of the good old days
when they could command a shilling a pound for freight.
Then mud-holes did not matter much, but when com-
petition had forced the price down to a miserable 5 cents,
why, it wore the flesh off the bone ! When I left the spot
the respective drivers had taken the wheels off their
waggons, were cleaning out the mud, and regreasing the
axles in the hope of being able to make up lost time a
trifle by facilitating the movement of the vehicle under
the influence of lubricant !

At the trestle a scene of great animation was to be seen.
Large gangs of men were fashioning the " bents," as the
sections are called, securing the members firmly together
by heavy iron dogs. Perhaps the valley to be spanned
was over half a mile in width, and in the centre so much
below the allowed level of the grade as to require no less
than five tiers of bents. As each of the latter when erected
stood 25 feet in height, this represented a timber structure
towering up 125 feet in the centre. To set something
like half a million feet of timber into position to form one
of these structures to carry the iron road appears an
appalling task, when the rift is seen in its nakedness.

140 TRESTLE-BUILDING

But trestle-building, like track-laying, is an art in itself.
Under the efforts of trained men it grows like a mush-
room, and once the lowest bents are secured in position
upon a firm and rigid foundation of piles, the remainder
is easy from their point of view.

It does not rise up a single log at a time, but by the
100 feet, for the bents as built are left prone in position,
and when a row is completed a steam-engine and tackle
hauls them into the upright position one after the other
with astonishing rapidity. When the top is gained it
is just wide enough to carry the track and no more.
If you happen to be crossing the trestle afoot, and be
trapped by an approaching train, you have to be an
expert athlete to escape an untimely end. You cannot
lie down flat between the rails, in the hope that the engine
will pass over you, because there is the deadly cow-catcher
to murder you ; nor can you lie prone outside the metals,
since in that case your brains will be battered out by the
cylinder or the connecting rod. The only possible means
of escape is to hang over the edge by your fingers, dangling
in mid-air, or gain one of the side recesses — a little over-
hanging platform made at intervals and equipped with
a butt of water for fighting fire in the event of the mass
becoming ignited — and that entails a healthy race with
the odds invariably against you.

The number of timber trestles on the Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway has been reduced to the minimum.
They have only been provided temporarily, owing to
the delay in securing the steel for the metallic structures.
To have waited for this material would have thwarted
construction very severely. The steel -work will be intro-
duced over the waterways at leisure, the existing trestling
serving as false-work for its erection, and, after this task
has been completed, all wood will be cleared away from
the metal, while the rest will be buried beneath an earth
embankment. Yet these structures are terribly ex-

Ferkyim

1 111: -Mai_Li,' iD Ri\ er

To transport material across the deep, swiftly running, wide mountain rivers, the engineers have intro^
duced "current ferries," which are rectangular pontoons attached by a trolley to an overhead cable. The
river current propels the craft, the ferry being turned at an angle so as to offer an obstruction to the
running water.

^^^''QbiK. ^•JPI^^^^B

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BBBpf^HraWMwiM M^r^^^^^^^B

The E.\stern Entrance to the Rocky Mountains

The River Athabaska debouches from the Rocky Range through a wide rift. Its waters wander over
the whole area between the mountains, forming a general swamp interspersed with sloughs and lagoons.
In the distance is the Fiddle Back Range, whose snow-capped peaks tower from 8ooo to io,ooo feet into
the clouds.

SLIPPING GROUND 141

pensive. Why, one only 12,000 feet long cost $50,000,
or £10,000, to build. Such an outlay for a temporary
erection appears to be out of all proportion to the results
obtained.

Now and again the builders ran into an unexpected
obstacle, especially on the slopes of the hills dropping
into the valley. The flank was found to rest on a
treacherous foundation — a slipping clay which, when
water gains its proximity, causes it to slide bodily to
and fro. Here and there the builders built their line
during the dry season over a brow, taking an easy swing
round the projecting humps. When completed it had
every appearance of being absolutely substantial. The
wet season came on, and in a short time, under the vibra-
tion and weight of passing trains, the whole slipped bodily
several feet down the hill-side, carrying the track with it,
or else imperilling its safety.

The builders retraced their footsteps and endeavoured
to overcome this development. They excavated into
the hill for a new path, and banked up the wall of earth
to prevent it caving in. Sometimes the permanent way
held and sometimes it did not. In the latter case the
engineers would make another effort. As heavy excavation
into the hill-side did not give the requisite solidity, they
struck out boldly from the slope and built up a new
embankment on timber trestling. More than once after
they had commenced such a solution they ascertained
that no better results could be obtained, so they returned
to the site of their first endeavours, and by heavy piling
sought to pin the slipping mass together. Invariably
they succeeded, inasmuch as they had resort at the last
moment to the most expensive manner of solving the
problem.

I saw a striking example of this maddening opposition
of Nature when I gained the MacLeod River, which at
the time of my arrival was the most westerly point to

142 GUMBO

which the track had been completed. The line crosses
Wolf Creek, an insignificant stream scarcely 20 feet
wide flowing into the MacLeod River, but to span which
had necessitated the erection of a temporary lofty
wooden trestle 652 feet from end to end, by 125 feet
high. At the western arm of this trestle a deep cut was
entered to gain the east bank of the waterway. At places
the cut was some 40 feet in depth, and the soil was gumbo,
a hard, clay-like material which almost defies excavation
by pick and shovel. Three hundred men had toiled night
and day continuously through the previous winter,
hewing their way forward with dynamite until 130,000
cubic yards of earth had been removed. The engineer
retired from the scene satisfied with his labours, but the
arrival of spring brought dismay. Departing frost re-
leased springs innumerable. The whole mass slipped from
either side into the cut, and what were left as symmetrical,
smooth-sloped banks, now became broken up badly in
all directions, threatening the locomotive track which
was being used for the haulage of material for the steel
bridge over the MacLeod River. The aspect of that cut
was ominous ; the engineer informed me that almost as
much material as had been excavated in the first instance
would have to be taken out before the track could be
laid, for gumbo is a highly treacherous soil. The navvies
express a severe detestation for it, while the rock-hogs
dislike it because it will not split up so well as the hardest
rocks, and blow-outs representing so much lost effort
have to be faced continually.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway has been built
essentially upon the British model. It is as unlike the
average American railway as it is possible to conceive.
The road bed is ballasted to a depth of 18 inches, giving
a firm foundation for the sleepers. The rails weigh 80
pounds per yard, and though they are not chaired, as
is the practice on British systems, but are spiked to the

THE RAIL ROAD 143

sleepers, yet they give a billiard-table track conducive
to fast travelling without the slightest sign of oscillation
or vibration. Regard has even been paid to the erection of
the telegraph line, which is built in a business-like manner,
and with due regard to a neat, trim appearance. The
posts are not fashioned from trees for which no other
useful purpose could be found owing to kinks and twists,
and which when set alongside a railway present a bizarre
appearance, nor are they of varying lengths and thick-
nesses. They are as straight as scaffold poles, of uniform
thickness, cut to certain lengths, are planted vertically,
and set equidistantly from the track, so that the line of
wires has that peculiarly British methodical appearance.

At intervals of 7 miles sidings are provided to permit
trains travelling in opposite directions to pass, for it is
only a single track, though the width of the right-of-way
will enable two or more lines to be laid to meet future
exigencies of traffic. Stations are distributed freely,
ranging from 4 to 9 miles apart, according to the require-
ments of the locality. Between Winnipeg and Edmonton,
a distance of 793 miles, five divisional points are provided,
which indicate the length of an individual locomotive's
run, this varying from 118 to 140 miles. At these points
extensive sidings have been laid down, together with
buildings for the housing of locomotives and other require-
ments of the railway. Moreover, the whole line is sub-
divided into sections 12 miles in length, for the main-
tenance of which the section man or ganger is responsible.

Seeing that this railway bisects a continuous stretch of
agricultural land unrivalled in fertility on the North
American Continent, and stretching for almost 1000
miles continuously — a feature which has been responsible
for the birth of the colloquialism " Canada's One-Thousand-
Mile Farm " — it does not require a second thought to
show that the main source of revenue to the railway will
be grain. Such, in fact, will constitute the essence of its

144 THE MAIN SOURCE OF REVENUE

existence, and it will carry a large proportion of the river
of wheat which flows every autumn eastwards to Winnipeg
and the points beyond. Accordingly a shipping point
on the Great Lakes became imperative, in order to give
the railway its own independent vent to the great Canadian
waterway system. This connection debouches from
the main line 225 miles east of Winnipeg at Lake Superior
Junction, and after running for 188 "8 miles through very
broken and difficult country, gains the head of Lake
Superior at a little indent near Mission River. Here
a new town and port have been established — Fort William
— and although it is within a tram-ride of another bustling
centre. Port Arthur, the younger port has gone ahead
so rapidly that it promises to outstrip its competitor
completely, while the keen rivalry existing between the
two centres situate side by side is a healthy contribution
to the welfare of both.

But Fort William's future is secured by one of the most
colossal enterprises that has ever been attempted in the
history of the Canadian west and the raising of grain.
The increasing yield of the prairie has taxed the question
of storing the produce until required by the market to a
supreme degree. The Grand Trunk Pacific, looking into
the future, decided that at Fort William there should
exist facilities for meeting the requirements of the Great
West for many, many years to come, so the construction
of a gigantic grain elevator was taken in hand. For
this purpose 1600 acres were acquired bounded on three
sides by water — the Kaministiquia River, the Mission
River, and Lake Superior respectively. By this means
no less than 7 miles of water frontage were secured, thereby
bringing the huge freighters trading on Lake Superior
into touch with the railway.

The wisdom of this step is being substantiated already.
In the autumn of 1908, although there was not a single
freight train running on the completed portion of the

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A GIGANTIC GRAIN ELEVATOR 145

Grand Trunk Pacific, the farmers who had settled in
advance of the iron horse succeeded in shipping to Winnipeg
approximately 1,000,000 bushels of grain, the whole
of which was handled as conditions permitted by the
construction trains. In the following year a freight train
service was inaugurated, and as a result several million
bushels were brought down to the capital of Manitoba,
where, as the Grand Trunk Pacific had no outlet to the
Lakes, the whole traffic had to be handed over to rival
lines for consignment to points beyond. In 1910, by
dint of hard work, the Government completed the short
link between Winnipeg and Lake Superior Junction,
and as the first unit of the elevator at Fort William was
completed the railway was enabled to convey the grain
direct from the farm to the lake-side elevator over its
own metals.

This elevator, when finished, will be one of the great
sights of the west. The completed section is already a
dominating landmark for miles around, inasmuch as it
holds 3,250,000 bushels of grain. This appears an enormous
bulk, but it is insignificant in comparison with what the
complete installation is designed to contain, which aggre-
gates 60,000,000 bushels — truly a huge storehouse of
cereals.

This elevator represents the last word of modern science
and engineering in connection with the storing of grain.
It is totally different from any similar structure in the
west to-day. It is built of ferro-concrete, the latest
constructional material evolved by scientific research,
and consequently is fire-proof throughout — no mean
feature, bearing in mind the tremendous wealth which
the structure will hold ultimately, and which at the present
prices would represent something like $40,000,000, or
£8,000,000.

In view of its massive proportions, the preparation
of the foundations presented an intricate problem.

146 A GIGANTIC GRAIN ELEVATOR

In the first place, owing to the unstable character of
the ground on the site, an army of pile-drivers had to
work continuously day and night, driving piles 50 feet
into the ground until over 11,000 tree logs had been
planted in the bog. Upon these a solid plinth of concrete
several feet in thickness was laid to support the super-
structure. Steel and concrete were the sole building
materials employed, with windows of wired glass, so
that the utmost protection against the ravages of fire
has been secured.

The working house measures 237 feet in length by
137 feet wide. It is provided with eighty huge cylindri-
cal bins — wells, in fact — measuring 12 feet in diameter,
into which the wheat is poured and drawn off in a steady
golden stream. The spaces between the bins are also
pressed into service for storage purposes. Immediately
beneath these capacious wells are fifteen large grain-
cleaning machines, while above the bins are further
machines for cleaning flax-seed, and for separating the
screenings of the other machines into the various descrip-
tions of seed of which they are composed. There is a
cupola above the cylindrical wells, and here are ranged
ten 2000-bushel scale-hoppers, resting on 120,000-pound
hopper scales, each scale-hopper in turn being surmounted
by a 2500 - bushel garner. Five of these apparatuses
are used for weighing the grain as it enters the elevator,
while the other five weigh the outgoing grain before
it is discharged into vessels or railway cars.

Down on the ground level are four tracks passing through
the building, and for a sufficient distance beyond to enable
loaded cars to be shunted in twice a day. Five hoppers
are disposed alongside each of the four tracks within the
building, making twenty hoppers to the house. Each
hopper can take a car-load of grain. Capacious shovels
serve to empty the grain from the cars into the hopper,
these being of unusual size and strength. Beneath each

A GIGANTIC GRAIN ELEVATOR 147

row of hoppers extends an endless conveyor, which carries
the grain from the unloading hopper to one of five elevator
legs for handling incoming grain. Each of these elevator
legs can deal with 15,000 bushels of grain per hour.

For unloading purposes there are six large chutes, where-
by the grain, after being weighed, is sent in a steady
volume into the holds of steamers or into railway cars.
When the whole battery is working at maximum pressure,
the elevator is being depleted of wheat at the rate of
90,000 bushels per hour. In addition to the foregoing,
the establishment is replete with a host of other time and
labour-saving devices, so that manual effort is reduced
to the minimum.

The storage house contains seventy cylindrical bins
similar to those in the working house, only they are of
larger dimensions, being 23 1 feet in diameter, with the
space between similarly pressed into service for storage
purposes. Conveyors communicate these bins with the
working house, and also with the discharge chutes for
shipping, each of the conveyors being able to deal with
15,000 bushels of grain per hour.

When the whole plant is completed, and working at
full capacity, it will be possible to deal with the grain
brought in by 2400 cars every daj% and to load vessels
moored alongside at the rate of 300,000 bushels per hour.
Such affords a graphic idea of the tremendous proportions
the grain industry is expected to attain along the track
of the Grand Trunk Pacific, the whole of which will
have been created by this one line. The machinery
within the elevator is driven by electricity, the current
being drawn from the Kaministiquia Power Company,
at 22,000 volts, and broken down in the building to meet
requirements for power and lighting.

The work in connection with the building of this
enormous grain warehouse is only equalled by the extent
of the operations outside for the provision of suitable

148 A GIGANTIC GRAIN ELEVATOR

facilities for shipping. Where a short time ago was low-
lying, swampy land covered with trees at the entrance
to the Mission River is a first-class wharf built in ferro-
concrete. Millions of tons of material have had to be
dredged away to provide a deep-water channel leading
from the Grain Elevator to the deep, navigable channel
of Lake Superior. By the provision of this enormous
depository the railway has forged a powerful link with
the water-borne traffic through the lakes, in which the
shipment of grain is a very important factor, and co-
operation with which cannot fail to influence the welfare
and prosperity of the railway, since it secures to the latter
a state of complete independence.

The completion of the line between Winnipeg and
Edmonton has imparted also a fresh impetus to the
development, not only of these two cities, but to the
country lying between. Not only does the Grand Trunk
Pacific line represent a saving of some 20 miles in distance
between the capitals of Manitoba and Alberta, as compared
with its competitors, but the travelling time has been
reduced by no less than six hours ! The expresses cover
the 793 miles in less than thirty hours, while special
trains have accomplished the journey in twenty-four
hours. Owing to the solid construction of the permanent
way, the easy grades, excellent ballasting, and other
features conducive to fast, smooth travelling, commercial
interests are anticipating a twenty-hour service between
the two cities. When the track has settled down to its
work such will become un fait accompli without a doubt,
as it is fully within the realms of possibility. The track
is quite capable of enabling speeds of 50 and 60 miles an
hour to be obtained, being, in fact, the fastest piece of
line on the North American Continent.

CHAPTER XI

TOWNS AND CITIES BUILT TO ORDER

TEN years ago the vast tracts of prairie rolling^west-
wards from Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains
through those stretches of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,
and Alberta lying between the 50th and 55th parallels,
were populated as sparsely as the Sahara. Here and
there might be found an isolated homestead, where a
daring settler had braved loneliness, inaccessibility, and
remoteness, among the Indians who roamed the plains,
but for the sign of town one looked in vain for miles.
Contrast that aspect of ten years ago with what is to
be found to-day. Between Winnipeg and Edson, a distance
of about 920 miles, over 120 towns have been created in a
long-flung-out line upon the prairie, and each is a humming
hive of activity and industry.

One and all owe their birth, and even their existence,
to one factor — the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. As
the prairie was opened up, and the rich, dank grass on
which the buffalo thrived so fatly half a century back
was turned in to make room for the golden wheat which
feeds the world, strategical commercial points were
seized here and there for the establishment of a central
collecting and distributing point over an area of surround-
ing territory which the farmer had invaded and occupied.
These communities, like the railway itself, have been selected
methodically and laid out scientifically. The " town-
boomers," a genus which came into existence likewise from
the progression of the iron road through the new coun-
try, and whose one speciality is speculation and preying
upon the gullible, considered this a magnificent opportunity

149

150 " TOWN-BOOMERS "

for making money quickly and easily. They entered the
country early, and endeavoured to establish town-sites
here and there along the located route of the line, buying
the land up at a cheap price, and unloading it upon
those who had fallen victims to the town-boom fever at
fictitious prices. They did not hesitate to assume grandilo-
quent titles of such a character as to lead the public to
believe that they were acting for the railway in an official
capacity, and that property bought through their offices
was certain to appreciate in value at a rapid rate.

The career of these speculating mushrooms, however,
was meteoric. The railway company was going to decide
where the towns should be planted, and in this respect
they refused to be influenced by external interests which
had no regard for the general welfare of the population
settling upon the country fringing the line. In the first
place they promptly saved the incredulous from the
hands of these fleecing individuals by protecting their
title. The words " Grand Trunk Pacific " which possessed
such a magic fascination to uninitiated speculators were
copyrighted. Consequently any Canadian organisation
attempting to trade under a name which introduces these
words in any trading form becomes subject to action, and
can be strangled at its birth by the stern arm of the law.

Foiled in this direction, the ingenious town-site plotter
resorted to other artifices in order to gather in the dollars
of poor investors. He struck out boldly, closely examined
the country, and then boldly announced that towns would
have to be situated at such and such a place, whether the
railway willed or otherwise, and in this manner sought
to induce the investor to part with his money.

This lure succeeded for a whOe, but it was realised
very quickly that the railway dominated the whole
situation. Commercial interests always flocked around
the point where the train stopped to take up and set
down passengers and merchandise. The railway station

THE HISTORY OF DENWOOD 151

always became the hub of the community within a certain
surrounding radius.

This tendency gave rise to some very amusing incidents
and illustrations of the powerful settling force of the
railway. The speculating element had pushed far ahead
of the line into Alberta along the location, and a place
called Den wood sprang up. True, it was but a small
village, but the fact was maintained that the railway
would have to establish their station at that point. The
speculators tolerated a rough-and-ready existence for
several months, dwelling in rude shacks and tents, and
subsisting as best they could. The future of Denwood
was their sole topic of conversation, and many a pioneer
built a magnificent castle in the air. The outlook was
considered all the more rosy from their point of view,
since Denwood would have to be made what is known
as a divisional point, that is to say, a station of more than
ordinary importance, inasmuch as it would indicate the
end of a running section — the point where the train
would have to change engines. Consequently round
houses, extensive sidings, and various buildings essential
to the railway's purpose would have to spring up, and
these in their turn would require labour which would
have to live in the vicinity. From the flamboyant tone
in which the speculators discussed the prospects for
Denwood, a stranger within its precincts might have come
to the conclusion that he was standing upon ground which
was destined to become the Winnipeg of the Middle West.

Any scrap of intelligence regarding the approach
of the steel, as the rail-head is called, was devoured and
discussed with keen delight. As the line crawled gradually
closer and closer excitement and enthusiasm rose to fever
pitch. On July 25th, 1908, the rails forced their way
into Denwood, and those who had been waiting so long
and patiently considered that the prizes were theirs
at last. Many a " boomer " saw his pocket bulging with

152 DISAPPOINTED SPECULATORS

dollars accruing from the result of his determination
and success in being first on the spot.

The next day their feelings of joy gave way to dismay.
The line continued its progress as if Denwood were at
the North Pole. The speculators rubbed their eyes.
What I Was Denwood going to be overlooked ? The
engineers did not know ; they could give no intelligible
reply. Ah, well, perhaps the steel was pushing ahead
with renewed vigour to meet some condition beyond
which was not conspicuous to the " boomers," so they
sat down to another period of waiting. Suddenly they
learned the truth. Denwood, " the coming metropolis
of the Middle West," despite its attractive situation,
was useless to the railway. Their point was 2| miles
farther west, and they had named the station Wainwright.
This was to be the divisional point. Then ensued a mad
stampede from Denwood. The "boomers" packed their
tents hurriedly, the log buildings were emptied of their
contents and demolished, and one and all hurried to
Wainwright as best they could, and with what vehicles
they could command. Within a few hours Denwood
was stripped of everything ; there was not a soul or a
vestige of its recent occupation to be seen in the place.
In a month it was forgotten ; it was but a dream, and
to-day you might search in vain for the place which
enthusiastic optimists averred was the cradle of a second
Winnipeg.

It has been the same over the whole 1000 miles between
Winnipeg and the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains.
Fortunes have been lost in the mad scramble to make
money quickly and without effort, merely by speculating
in town-sites ; wealthy farmers have been beggared
through being lured from the certain wealth to be won
from their land by persistent labour, and having lost
their all, have been forced to commence life over again.

The creation of these new communities has been planned

TOWN-SITES 153

upon the most careful scientific lines by the Government
and the subsidiary official company which is carrying
out the foundation of cities and towns along the route
of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. As already ex-
plained, the charter of this railway did not include the
free presentation of a square foot of land. That required
for town-sites had to be purchased in the ordinary way,
and this work is carried out by an enterprise quite distinct
from the railway company, though officially representing
the latter. The railway company selects the spots which
it considers suitable for divisional points, and the towns
distributed between are founded according to local require-
ments by the Town-site Company. They purchase,
say, a square mile of territory abutting on the railway.
One quarter of this area has to be presented to the Govern-
ment free of all expense, since the latter maintains a
25 per cent interest in all such speculations, and the
revenue derived from the sale thereof pours into the
Government treasury.

Location having been settled, the plotting of the area
is then carried forward. Corps of surveyors appear on
the scene and the streets are pegged out. Canadian
town-planning is now practised exclusively upon the
methodical geometrical system elaborated in the United
States. The main up-town thoroughfares are driven
in one direction, and the lateral streets are carried at
right angles and spaced equidistantly, the section between
two succeeding highways being known as a block. The
lateral thoroughfares are spaced about 300 feet apart, so
that approximately twenty blocks equal one mile. Such
planning gives the town a square and monotonous appear-
ance, but it has the compensating advantage of facilitating
the discovery of any desired address, especially if the
numerical system of christening the lateral streets is
adopted. The highways laid out, the rectangular blocks
of land lying between the latter are subdivided into plots,

154 SPECULATORS

each averaging about 50 feet wide by 150 feet deep.
Each purchaser thus receives an equal unit of the land
for his money. These plots are then divided once more
into inner and corner plots. The latter, as the name
implies, represents plots having a frontage upon two
thoroughfares, and consequently, from the commercial
point of view, . are more valuable than the " inner "
plots, which are those lying between the corner areas in
the street and having only face frontages.

Frustrated in their efforts to establish towns in a
promiscuous manner, and thus to plunder the public,
the " town-boomers " resorted to another practice. When
a town is ready for occupation, the first sales are con-
ducted by public auction. Such pending disposal is
advertised far and wide, and focusses the attention of
the legitimate investor squarely upon the project. Also
it enables some idea of the value of the property, when
in its earliest stages, to be ascertained, and contributes
somewhat towards the fixation of fair prices for private
sales. The lots offered under the hammer are not con-
secutive, but are picked haphazardly from all parts of
the site, since those which are immediately contiguous
to the railway station obviously are more valuable than
those a mile distant. The speculators always patronised
the sale in full force, and purchased the plots which they
considered to be the most attractive to hold until circum-
stances arose enabling them to sell out at an inflated
figure. Then, upon the conclusion of the auction sale,
they would command all the most attractive plots, at
prices approximating what they had paid under the
hammer for such property, and since they were only
compelled to pay a small sum down, with the balance
in subsequent instalments at 6 or 7 per cent interest,
they were able to control the situation completely. They
sent up the prices of the plots to a prohibitive figure,
and often out of the sale of a few plots to luckless buyers.

A BUILDING RESTRICTION 155

were able to defray the outlay upon their entire speculation.
It will be seen, therefore, that the genuine investors stood
a very indifferent chance of laying out their money legiti-
mately and profitably.

This method was all very well in its way, but the au-
thorities saw that such practice might arrest the develop-
ment of a town. In fact, the speculators, by securing
the finest lots, could hold up the place, and yet not spend
a penny towards its improvement. Now, inasmuch as
the land immediately surrounding the station is the most
valuable, is most likely to witness development first,
and invariably is the point from which the upbuilding
of a community springs and radiates in all directions like
a fan, it is essential that it should be exploited without
delay to enable the town to be set firmly on the path
of prosperity. A stranger detraining and observing the
vacant appearance of a town around the station where
there should be bustle would think naturally that some-
thing serious was the matter. So, in order to prevent
such a state of affairs, the authorities established what
they called a building restriction. This applies to a certain
radius immediately around the station. Generally it
covers four blocks. The purchaser of land within this
area is compelled, by the terms of purchase, to erect
a building on his plot worth $1500, or £300, at least,
within a year of his acquisition of the site. This has hit
the boomer rather hard, as when he buys a plot develop-
ment such as this is the most remote intention he has
in mind. Consequently he leaves the " restricted area "
severely alone, but buys up outlying cheap plots, and
endeavours to foist them upon the public at about ten
times their value by hook or by crook.

The towns fringing the Grand Trunk Pacific, which
on the average are spaced about eight miles apart, are all
located on the northern side of the line, with one or two
exceptions. The principal thoroughfare striking directly

156 A TOWN WITHOUT A BOOM

from the station is always the Main Street, and is generally
known as such. It is a noble highway 80 feet in width,
which provides a 60-foot roadway. The parallel high-
ways on either hand are about 66 feet in width, and these
often are named after the English practice or as avenues
with a numerical designation. The same applies to the
lateral thoroughfares, but Main Street retains this appel-
lation invariably, and as such conveys the intimation that
it is the thoroughfare leading to the railway station.

In some instances remote spots on the prairie having no
ambition towards blossoming into a city or town have had
greatness thrust upon them. Take Irma, for instance. It
was a mere dot on the rolling expanse, and four years ago a
half-breed's tumble-down shack was the sole evidence of
settlement for some 20 miles or more around. A United
States farmer, Mr. W. H. Fread, had cruised around the
western prairie searching for a new farm. After covering
some 2000 miles he decided upon a district some 35
miles west of the Battle River. He returned home,
and, succeeding in persuading some thirty-five families
to accompany him, the party set out for the north-west,
gained the territory, and at once settled down to farming.
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was some distance
to the east. To replenish their provisions, and to obtain
supplies, they had to drive over the ancient trail to Viking,
a small town 27 miles to the west. This little colony set
to work industriously, and in a short time changed the
aspect of the prairie completely for miles around. Then
along came the steel highway, and in passing through the
rich country, and observing the prosperity of the little
colony, it was decided to stop the trains here, and a
station christened " Irma " accordingly sprang into
existence. Unlike the greater number of the western
prairie towns, Irma never has had a boom. It was ad-
vancing steadily and rapidly by the time the railway
arrived, and offered no scope for the town-boomer.

PRAIRIE TOWNS 157

The growth of a prairie town is a spectacle that cannot
be paralleled in any other country. The location of the
town is decided definitely, and in a few days the site has
been split up by the surveyors. Before they have settled
down thoroughl}'' to their work one or two stray pioneers
arrive and cast about, possibly assisting the surveyors in
menial work, with a view to gathering some tit-bits of
information likely to be of individual profit. As the
surveyors' work approaches completion other stragglers
appear on the scene, and before one can realise the
fact, squatters appropriate attractive plots and run up
their tents. In a few days a livery stable appears, while
within easy distance a frontier hotel springs into existence.

Two days later the place is overrun by investors and
speculators, who penetrate to the point in any vehicle at
their disposal, and their arrival is hailed with delight by
the livery-stable keeper and Boniface. Within another two
days many a visitor has exchanged his cash for a piece of
Canadian freehold, and before the week is out a store,
lumber-yard, a variety of timber frame buildings serving
as stores, restaurant, barber's shop, possibly a newspaper,
and private dwellings line the main thoroughfare. The
complete change from barren, undulating vacant wilder-
ness to a small village of thirty or fifty people has often
been wrought in a week. Where one Sunday revealed but
the tents of the surveyor and his staff, the following Sunday
has shown an assortment of buildings of all descriptions.

In due course the bank, school, and church rise up from
the ground. The new town has now commenced its forward
movement in earnest. Every day sees a new arrival, re-
solved to try his luck in a locality where competition is not
encountered, and where there is full scope for unfettered
ability. If the town happens to be a divisional point, its
progress is much more marked, for by the time the railway
settles down to business, the inhabitants may look forward
confidently to the company spending something like

158 TOWNS OF RAPID GROWTH

$30,000, or £6000, a month in wages among its employees
stationed at that point. The elevator appears like magic
beside the railway track, and the farmers around the town
breathe freely, for here are the facilities for the disposal of
their produce on the spot.

In some instances the rise of the town has been phe-
nomenal. Take Melville, a typical town born of the railway.
Three years ago it was not even a dream — where it stands
was a mere expanse of prairie stretching away to the
horizon on either side. In three years it had become
the home of 1500 people who had installed their own
telephone service, were discussing an electric lighting
system, and had an assessment value of $1,500,000, or
£300,000. Watrous can relate a similar story of rapid
growth, as can also Wainwright, Scott, and one hundred
other towns scattered along this railway. To show how
wealth can be brought into a district Scott offers a concrete
example. It is the centre and distributing point for one of
the fmest and most fertile grain-growing areas on the prairie.
One afternoon a train-load of ninety wealthy American
farmers, seeking new homes, drew in. The visitors inspected
the surrounding country, and before they re-entrained that
evening over $68,000, or £13,400, had been deposited in
the local bank as payments for the land acquired.

Saskatoon and Edmonton are two towns which reflect
the sudden rise of barren prairie to eminence and wealth.
It was quite by accident that Saskatoon came to be founded
at the point where the Saskatchewan describes a huge
elbow. Those who first settled on the spot thought that
perhaps some day they would build up a town of some im-
portance, but the settlers numbered only 113 all told in
1903. The odd thirteen might be construed as ominous to
the superstitious, but Saskatoon placed no credence in such
folly, for by 1906 it had grown to a town of 3011. Within
another three years it had increased fourfold, and to-day
has a population of 14,000. The rise of Edmonton has

A DISMAL OUTLOOK 159

perhaps been more magical. In 1901 the census stood at
2626 ; in 1910 it was bordering upon 30,000.

When I crossed the extreme western corner of the
Dominion, making the " north-west passage " over the
route which the steel highway will follow, I came upon a
small clearing in the scrub. The grade was in the throes of
moulding ; the navvies were wrestling with muskeg and
gravel. As I stood on the site for the station buildings of
Edson and looked northwards, my eye was arrested by a
clean level cut through the bush, merely 8 or 10 feet wide,
with heavy wheel -ruts trailing through the mud and water.
This was " Main Street," as unpicturesque a highway as one
could conceive. I wended my way cautiously along the
thoroughfare. The roadway was flanked on either side by
primeval bush, with narrow passages cut through the
vegetation here and there, showing where the surveyors
had driven their lines. Now and again, when I left Main
Street to avoid an ugly puddle, I would stumble and trip
over a hidden obstacle which investigation revealed as the
surveyors' pegs for the side streets and building lines. Of
structures there was but the crudest sign — a square prison-
looking building, with an outer garb of tarred felt, was the
solitary disfigurement of the landscape. This was the
hotel. Within a stone's-throw was the irrepressible livery
stable — at that moment empty for want of patronage, yet
well stocked with hay, ready for eventualities.

The steel had not reached the town, owing to heavy
bridging being necessary to cross the MacLeod River. The
outlook for Edson was about as dismal as one could imagine
— ^the bush looked too forbidding to entice speculating
builders and others eager to trade in the wilds. Here and
there we met a pioneer plunging through the bush, looking
for attractive sites among the slime and swamp. These
were the only signs of civilisation, yet I learned that nearly
every foot of ground had been bought up I

When I gained Fort George I learned that the railway

160 TRANSCONA

had reached Edson, and that a stirring boom had set in.
When I was there six weeks before the track was 11 miles
away. In the course of forty days the track-layer had
forced its entry, and, in addition to the main lines running
through the yard and station, there were miles of sidings,
for Edson is a divisional point. The bush had been cleared
for a solid square mile, and the ground was as dry and as
free from any vestige of a tree as the Carberry Plains 800
miles to the east. Within another six weeks it had settled
down to a humming existence, with imposing timber build-
ings for stores, butchers' shops, restaurant, and a dozen
other businesses lining the principal thoroughfares, while
the place found employment and means of existence for
some 300 people.

East of Winnipeg a new town is springing up. Owing to
the high cost of land in the metropolis of Manitoba, the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway is establishing its necessary
locomotive yards and numerous buildings some little dis-
tance to the east. Transcona is the name of this Crewe in
embryo, and an outlay of nearly a million dollars, £200,000,
indicates the initial outlay on the part of the railway.
Around this hub has been planned and plotted housing
accommodation for 5000 people, most of whom will repre-
sent emploj^ees engaged in the works and j'^ards of the line.

Such is the way in which the western stretches of desola-
tion have been reclaimed. The enterprising farmer has
occupied the arable land on either side of the line, at-
tracted by the bounty of Nature, and the provision of
excellent transportation facilities, while this in turn, under
the influence of the railway, has given rise to the innumer-
able little towns — they will be cities some day, with the
smoke from one intermingling with its neighbour on either
hand — and the transformation has been truly magical.
Within less than ten years the railway has been responsible
for creating about 120 towns, and populating them to the
extent of over 50,000 people.

CHAPTER XII

SPYING THE PATH THROUGH THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
AND THE CAPTURE OF THE YELLOWHEAD PASS

THE plotting of a railway through the Rocky Moun-
tains having a grade no heavier than 1 per cent, or
52*8 feet per mile, had been the dream of American
engineers ever since the day when Stephenson first demon-
strated the possibility of driving a vehicle having a flanged
wheel over a smooth-surfaced rail by adhesion. Though
they had struggled desperately and repeatedly to achieve
their ambition, Nature had always baffled them completely.
Those yawning ravines and sharply rising, towering peaks
always had defied such an easy conquest — had upset their
most carefully laid plans. Strive as they might, braving
snow, cold wind and weather, they never could alight upon
a pathway such as they desired. It seems a simple matter
to say that a grade shall not exceed so much when it is
written on paper, and it looks very attractive, but when it
comes to laying the metals it is a totally different under-
taking.

So when the President of the Grand Trunk Pacific enter-
prise warned his surveyors that the grade for the new line
must not exceed four-tenths of 1 per cent, or 21*12 feet per
mile, through this formidable mountain chain, engineers
throughout America laughed quietly. They reasoned that
they knew the difficulties which would shatter such a fondly
cherished idea, for they had bitter experience to assist
them in their emphatic conclusions that it would never be
accomplished.

L i6i

162 THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

The Rocky Mountains form one of the most heart-
breaking barriers that Nature ever presented to the railway
builder. As one engineer, who had toiled among their
fastnesses for more years than he could remember, pic-
turesquely remarked, " Nature either must have grown
tired or disgusted in her moulding work when she got to
North America. At any rate, she just threw the mountains
down promiscuously, and in the most confused heap of
lofty peaks that can be imagined." She had no thought for
the railway-builder, coming along centuries after, the
privations he would have to suffer, the perils that he would
have to face, and the fatalities that their conquest would
occasion, just to spy out a narrow passage where the rails
could be carried through comfortably and without assuming
the form of a gigantic switchback.

It is a tumbled ice and snow-fettered chain from end to
end. The rifts between its tangled, precipitous teeth are
few and far between. Those that exist are merely lanes for
the egress of boiling, tempestuous waterways, lashing the
sides of the gorge. When a rushing river occupies the whole
of the ravine the task of the railway-builder becomes
Herculean in the truest sense of the word.

Consequently, when a small band of picked men expert
with the transit and level, with constitutions as hard as
nails, who from long experience in selecting paths for a
railway through the most difficult stretches of country
could discover such almost by instinct, were merely told
by their " chief " that they were not to exceed a " four-
tenths grade," it is not surprising that they were somewhat
amazed. Argument was useless. It was of no avail to say
that such an undertaking would cost millions to accom-
plish. That was a question for the controlling spirit to
settle. Their instructions were explicit.

The surveyors set out. Many wiseacres who knew the
Rockies described their expedition as the " forlorn hope."
Certainly they had been entrusted with one of the most

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A MAN OF FEW WORDS 163

exacting tasks that has ever been imposed upon a railway-
building spy. The party was in charge of one of the most
accomplished railway surveyors in the west, Mr. C. C. Van
Arsdoll, who has been associated with railway engineering
all his life among the Western American mountains.
Roughing it in the wilds appears to have rendered him
immune to the many ills to which flesh is heir, and he is
prepared for any emergency. His tall, gaunt figure striding
through the dense bush is familiar up and down the banks
of the Skeena River and throughout Northern British
Columbia to-day, for as divisional engineer he is
responsible for the construction of that length of railway.
It may be raining as it only can rain on the Pacific Coast
— and the character of a downpour may be gauged some-
what from the fact that the annual rainfall is about 109
inches — but he recks not of the elements. A lounge jacket
is quite sufficient protection, and even should it become
sodden like a sponge, a stand-up before the camp fire will
dry the garment very quickly. A man of few words, and
those uttered in a very low tone, the men on the work tell
you that " every one counts," for a stern wrestle with
Nature day after day for supremacy among the mountains
is not conducive to conversation or idle talk.

With him was associated a kindred spirit. This was Mr.
R. W. Jones. Railway spies among the secrets of Nature
in the mountains, like poets, are born, not made. And Mr.
Jones certainly knows the Rockies through and through.
In the search for the breach in this frowning wall through
which the Grand Trunk Pacific could be carried in the
easiest manner he probed the barrier through and through,
exploring in all about 10,000 square miles. It was not open
country that he traversed, but the heart of the range,
bristling with precipitous, snow-crowned caps, which he
trod through and through for the slightest sign of a passage,
which, upon discovery, no matter how narrow, was followed
up till it either came to a dead-end, comprising as it were

164 A TYPICAL INDIAN

a huge couloir, or sloped up towards the clouds. Every
little detail was scrutinised closely, and committed to
memory and paper by means of an eye trained to the
country from prolonged seclusion in the wilds. Nothing
escaped his vigilance. It might have been a narrow ledge
here or a gully there, but it was searched industriously, in
the hope that it might help to solve the problem in hand.

The elements were spurned, and the seasons almost
passed unnoticed, so deeply was he absorbed in his task.
Now pushing along through bog and slime, then slipping
and sliding among rocks, struggling with dead-fall piled
10 or 12 feet in height, and as tangled as a skein of wool, or
cautiously fording a tempestuous torrent born of a mighty
glacier, his daily round was one of continuous adventure.
The country might be tightly embraced in the icy grip of
winter, but it made no difference. Then snow-shoes were
donned to facilitate movement over the white mantle,
while supplies for the daily needs were carried in a small
pack strapped to the back.

The most remarkable phase of his task was the flying
survey, wherein the country was reconnoitred hurriedly
but thoroughly. Jones went off with but an Indian to keep
him company. The red man, Pierre Belcour by name, has
accompanied his " white chief " so often that the two
are almost inseparable companions. Pierre is one of
the last of a fast-dying race — a typical Indian such as has
been handed down to us by the fiction writers of Canadian
aboriginal life and ways. He is a stoic of the front rank,
will plod along for hour after hour without a murmur, and
possesses the red man's characteristic instincts to an acute
degree. Swift afoot, a keen hunter, and a boon companion,
he is an ideal friend, philosopher, and guide. There are
many who will spurn disdainfully the idea of a Red Indian
as a colleague, but in reality he would be difficult to excel,
as he can find his way through the trackless labyrinth of
forest as easily as an ordinary man can wend his way along

A PHILOSOPHIC COUPLE 165

a high road provided with sign-posts, and in a tight corner
he is just the man to help one out. Moreover, a true Indian
never grumbles, for it is against his nature. He simply
takes the rough with the smooth, though in the wilds more
of the former than the latter is encountered. It is certain
Jones scarcely ever would think of setting out on an
expedition without his faithful shadow.

Their general practice was to start off with no more than
a sleeping-bag apiece strapped to their backs, and with pork
and beans constituting their staple diet, to be reinforced
with what they could bring down with their rifles, or trap
from the creeks and rivers. Personal impedimenta was
reduced to the very uttermost limit. When traversing such
difficult country as the Rocky Mountains the lighter the
load the easier one can advance. With this scanty outfit
they tramped the woods, living a true Indian life, scaled
the mountain summits, and investigated the narrow defiles.
When a thundering river had to be crossed they fashioned a
crude raft from dead trees as best they could, abandoning
their primitive craft when they had gained the opposite
shore. They struggled until waning day compelled cessa-
tion, and then piled up a blazing fire. If they were out of
provisions, and no luck had fallen to their rifles, they
simply went supperless to bed, their couch being the bag
in which they curled themselves before a blazing camp fire.
Up with the break of day, they packed their beds into a
small compass, re-strapped them to their backs, and
trudged off on another trying round.

As one travels in the comfort and ease of a Pullman
car, one cannot form the slightest idea of the toil, ad-
venture, and privation that the plotting of the route
which the completed line follows has entailed. One may
admire the audacity of the engineers in connection with
the work as it is presented by the completed line, but one
does not see the infinite labour that was expended in
providing that route, nor can one realise how its course

166 PERILOUS CHARACTER OF TASK

came to be decided ultimately. To gain a faint idea of
this invisible effort, one must struggle ahead of the con-
structional engineers, cling to the narrow trail, struggle
with bog, dead-fall, and sliding rock, as I did for a few
hundred miles, and then a slight conception of the pro-
portions of the surveyor's labour is obtained.

Our pack-train was toiling along the Miette River
towards the Yellowhead Pass. The mountain - sides
sheered up from the waterway at angles of about 60
degrees on either side. The trail wound like a Chinese
puzzle over humps and through couloirs, where riding was
a painful task, while the speed was comparable to a
tortoise's gallop. The opposite mountain-sides here and
there were torn by a straight, narrow line through the sea
of green, running up the mountain-side. It was a trial line,
showing where the surveyor had cleft his way through the
trees at infinite pains to gain a position to enable him to
bring his instruments into use for plotting the mountain
slopes. The finished line, following the easiest route, seems
so obvious to the uninitiated traveller that he thinks survey
work mere child's play, not knowing that possibly fifty lines
or surveys had to be run before one mile of track along
which he is speeding was found to be the best.

While toiling along the route which the railway is to
follow through the Rockies I spent several days among the
resident engineers and camps, where I met more than one
hardened young fellow who had been out on the pre-
liminary with Mr. R. W. Jones. All could relate exciting
adventures without end, some grave, some gay, but all
pointing to the perilous character of the task.

** Did you ever see the grizzly that Jones shot with his
* 22 ' ? " commented one. " Phew ! it was a stunner, and
no mistake. A pretty close shave for Jones, though ! "

He then related the episode. It appeared that the
surveyor-in-chief was out with an assistant plotting the
line with the transit and level. While hacking their way

ADVENTURE WITH A GRIZZLY 167

through the bush the assistant spotted a grizzly, and let
drive in a true sporting manner. It was an indifferent shot,
simply wounding the bear pretty badly, with the result
that the brute rounded and made after his assailant. A
grizzly may be a lumbering, ungainly brute, but it can
cover the ground at a healthy speed. The young assistant
had not time to reload and fire a second shot, so, yelling
out to his chief, turned on his heels. Jones whipped round,
and spotted enraged Bruin barely 20 feet away, and coming
for him at full speed. Escape was hopeless, as the bear
would have been on top of him within a few seconds. He
had only a small " 22 " in his hands, which, generally
speaking, is about as useful for bringing down a grizzly as
is an air-gun for stopping a mad bull. However, he drew,
and taking steady aim at the advancing animal, let fly at a
range of about twelve paces. He then stepped smartly to
one side. The bullet caught the brute in the face, and, just
missing the frontal bone, pierced its brain. The impetus
it had gathered caused it to stumble forward for a few feet
farther, to drop dead almost on the point where the sur-
veyor had been standing

On another occasion two surveyors were running the
preliminary. The transit had been left a little to the rear,
and, not being required for the moment, its waterproof
hood had been replaced. The surveyor and his companion
were groping along when there was a roar, and an enraged
bear rose up as if by magic out of the ground. It caught
sight of the two surveyors, who, both having left their guns
behind, deemed discretion to be the better part of valour,
so turned and ran as hard as they could go with the bear in
full pursuit. They gained safety, and after waiting awhile
to regain their wits and breath, the surveyor suddenly be-
thought himself of the abandoned transit. Had the bear
seen it ? If so, what had she done ? They instantly re-
traced their footsteps, fearful for the safety of the instru-
ment. If that had fallen a victim to the enraged bear's

168 JONES AND THE INDIAN

tantrums work would have to be suspended for weeks, as
they were hundreds of miles from head-quarters. An
accident to their transit in that situation would have been
analogous to the plight of a captain who had lost his
compass. When they regained the place they peered
anxiously around. Bruin had gone, and there was the
transit still standing on its tripod as they had hurriedly
left it. But the instrument had attracted the attention of
the bear during the mad rush ; she had stopped to investi-
gate, and had expended her rage on the waterproof covering,
which she had lifted off and had torn to ribbons. The
transit itself was absolutely uninjured !

Jones and the Indian more than once occasioned con-
siderable anxiety in the minds of their comi-ades. Their
general procedure on preliminary and locating surveys was
to establish a flying camp, that is a camp which could be
moved quickly and easily from point to point. Operations
would be carried out ahead of this temporary centre for a
certain distance, the members of the party being out in the
field all day and returning to camp at night, when they
committed the day's operations in the field to paper. The
surveyor-in-chief and his faithful guide would pack their
sleeping-bags, and with the scantiest supply of provisions in
their pockets, would start off together. They would be
absent for a fortnight at a time, and then would return to
camp considerably the worse for wear, with clothes bearing
sad evidences from their tattered, soddened condition of
battles with the bush, rocks, dead-fall, and river.

The camp itself would be provided with only a slender
stock of provisions, so as not to impede progress, but caches
were established at easily accessible points, where the
camp's larder could be replenished. When the surveyor-in-
chief had started off on one of his lengthy journeys, how-
ever, the rest of the party had to await his return. But
Jones, when out plotting the railway, had but little thought
of time or days. Once he and his Indian were absent for

BEARS AND THE CACHE 169

some three weeks, and his comrades were somewhat anxious
as to what had become of them. Had an accident over-
taken both ? The party were discussing the situation one
night, and were just on the point of sending out a search
party when there was a loud whoop, and the two wanderers
strode into the glare of the camp fire ravenous with hunger.
The camp's larder was almost depleted, so there was no
tempting supper awaiting the famished wanderers.

It was decided to make for a certain cache, some days'
journey distant, without delay, the whole party being re-
duced to short rations meanwhile. But some of the men
soon began to show signs of exhaustion as they trailed pain-
fully along, for food had been scarce for a week past. But
conceive their chagrin to find when they got to the cache
that it had been devastated. Bears had discovered the
hoard, and had played sorry tricks with it. The animals
had pierced tins of milk, fish, and fruits, and had sucked
dry the contents. Dried fruits, butter, and other
comestibles had been demolished, while those edibles
which did not appeal to Bruin's palate had been scattered
and trampled to destruction. The animals had been
having a right royal feast. Though the party was faint
and famished when they lighted upon this disaster to the
cache, they could not refrain from uproarious laughter.
Yet it was a serious matter to them, for it meant a dismal
tramp through the muskeg and forest for many more miles
to the next cache, and some of the weaker members were so
worn with hunger that they could scarcely stand. How-
ever, with the assistance of their stronger comrades, they
resumed the wearying tramp. When at last succour was
gained the jaded, starved party fell upon the food raven-
ously and with scant ceremony.

But semi-starvation is inseparable from this work in such
an inhospitably wild country. The director-in-chief may
plan the most perfect system for keeping his forces at the
front well provided with food, and may elaborate extensive

170 THE SEARCH FOR PASSES

machinery to ensure this end, but accidents in the wilder-
ness are inevitable. For weeks not the slightest inkling
of what the party were doing reached head-quarters.
The men were buried in the mountain fastnesses, often
hemmed in by inclement weather or snow-bound, but
prosecuting their arduous work uninterruptedly as best
they could contrive the whole time. Did the engineer-in-
chief, thousands of miles behind, worry ? Not one bit. In
Canada, even through the north-west, where a human form
is but rarely seen, ill news travels like the wind, and had
disaster overwhelmed one little party among the moun-
tains it would have reached the ears of the chief controlling
the various working strings of his organisation within a
remarkably short time.

Three years had sped by, and then the results of the in-
cessant labour in the heart of the range began to assume
coherent form. No less than forty possible " passes " had
been discovered, followed, investigated, and charted on
paper, together with a mass of details concerning the ad-
vantages and disadvantages of each, for the guidance of the
engineer-in-chief. As the results trickled in they were con-
sidered carefully. Those regarded as hopeless were thrown
on one side, and in this way the possibilities were narrowed
down to six. Then it was brought down to four — the
Yellowhead, the Wapiti, Pine River, and Peace River
Passes respectively. Each had some individual recom-
mendatory features, and each had drawbacks. The problem
was to decide which would meet the official requirements
from every point of view.

The selection of the pass which the great steel highway
should favour through the Rockies imposed a momentous
responsibility upon the engineer-in-chief. Many such
officials shrink from making a decision upon their own
initiative, for the future of the railway depends to a very
pronounced degree upon the chief engineer's selection. If
he makes a mistake, well, it simply means that so many

THE SELECTION OF THE PASS 171

million pounds have been thrown away. Should the line
through a pass be costly to maintain, and difficult to keep
open, he is likewise assailed. However, Mr. B. B. Kelliher,
whom Mr. Hays brought with him from the Southern
Pacific Railway upon his return to Canada, did not hesitate
to assume complete responsibility. He is a man with
courage in his convictions. Ever since he left Ireland, upon
the completion of his apprenticeship, Mr. Kelliher has been
associated with railway-building operations in the moun-
tains of North America, and the experience thus acquired
in one of the sternest schools proved of far-reaching value
when he transferred his energies to the Dominion. It
enabled him to enlist the finest surveying skill available,
men who would leave no stone unturned in searching the
range from crest to base, between the 50th and the 55th
parallels, to discover what he desired — the most economical
four-tenths of 1 per cent grade. The reports respecting
each possible pass were detailed to a minute degree. After
prolonged and searching perusals thereof, the careful
weighing in the balance of respective costs, advantages,
and economic value, he unhesitatingly decided that the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway should approach the coast
by way of the Yellowhead Pass.

Not that this selection was a simple matter by any
means, for the Yellowhead, the Peace River, and the
Wapiti Passes pressed one another hard for preference.
The Peace River Pass was inviting, because it traversed a
wonderfully fertile country now attracting crowds of
settlers, while the altitude was about 1000 feet lower
than that of the Yellowhead Pass. But to carry the railway
through that rift would have entailed the negotiation of two
summits, whereas the selected route has only one summit.
Consequently the Peace River Pass was abandoned. Then
the Wapiti Pass appeared very attractive at first sight, but
when the cost of construction through that channel was
investigated, it was realised that the expenditure under

172 THE YELLOWHEAD PASS

this heading would assume enormous proportions, as the
amount of rock-cutting necessary to secure the easy grade
would have been prodigious. So this pass was placed out
of court. Considered from every point of view the Yellow-
head Pass offered the greatest attractions, and events
already are justifying this bold decision.

In this final moving of the pieces upon the railway chess-
board a little bit of finesse was related to me by the Presi-
dent, ]Mr. Hays. A rival railway, the Canadian Northern,
was pushing forward to the western sea, and it was impera-
tive that the Grand Trunk Pacific should not reveal its hand
too quickly. The point was how to throw dust in the eyes
of the would-be competitor. The Canadian Northern was
watching which pass was to be selected by the Grand Trunk
Pacific, as it had made up its own mind in this direction, for
there was just one place where their line could be carried
through with the greatest success. The Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway apparently could not decide whether to
thread the mountains by the Pine River or the Peace River
Pass. The Press took the matter up to assist them, and for
some time there waged a pretty discussion concerning the
pros and cons of the respective passes. The railway was
making further surveys in these two passes ; this was the
sole information extended to the impatient and curious
public.

While the discussion was at its height the Grand Trunk
Pacific authorities suddenly announced that they were not
going by either the Pine River or the Peace River Passes.
They were piercing the mountains some hundreds of miles
farther south — by the Yellowhead Pass 1 The Canadian
Northern had been intent upon the latter, and its engineers
had been chuckling over the fact that the Grand Trunk
Pacific had, to all intents and purposes, overlooked the
merits of the Yellowhead Pass, and consequently were
making their own plans to penetrate the mountains at this
latter point with an easy grade. The engineer-in-chief of

RIVAL LINES 173

the Grand Trunk Pacific had found this out, and by crowd-
ing a large staff ostentatiously into the Pine River and
Peace River Passes, while a highly competent party was
secretly plotting the way through the Yellowhead Pass
which he had decided to follow, his rivals were thrown off
the scent. Directly the plans were completed they were
deposited with the Government, officially approved, and in
this way the Grand Trunk Pacific secured the choice of
route through the mountains to the discomfiture of its
rival. Such a manoeuvre affords an interesting sidelight
on the little friendly struggles for supremacy that are
waged by railway companies when both are traversing the
same new country, and how keen is the effort to secure
the control of a pass offering the greatest strategical
advantages.

What was more, it was found that east-bound traffic over
the suggested route would have only the requisite four-
tenths grade with which to contend ; west-bound traffic
would be slightly more handicapped, as the configuration
of the country rendered it impossible to give the same
gradient in each direction, but inasmuch as the increase is
only a matter of 5 feet per mile, it is insignificant. Here the
Rockies have been pierced at a far lower altitude than ever
has been possible. The summit is 3712 feet, and this is the
highest point to which the metals are lifted in their span of
3543 miles from Atlantic to Pacific. No other trans-
continental railway on the North American Continent
traverses the Rockies at such a low level. The Union
Pacific, the first trans-continental, toils to a height of 8710
feet, while the Canadian Pacific on its two routes has to
notch 5329 feet at Stephen, and 4427 feet near Crowsnest
respectively, in order to overcome the selfsame wall.

When it becomes necessary to take to the water to carry
out the work with the transit and level, to plot the line
around or through some formidable obstruction, especially
upon furious, vicious rivers like the Athabaska or the

174 A DARING SURVEYOR

Fraser, the excitement is thrillingly adventurous. Near
the entrance to the mountains I met a young Scotsman who
had been out searching the foot of the Roche Miette. When
he got to the site the river was running like a mill-race
round the base of this mountain which juts plump into the
waterway. His raft was but a crazy structure of dead logs
roped together in a hurried manner. When all was ready he
stowed his transit and other impedimenta on the deck, and
pushed off into mid-stream. But that raft was fickle. He
endeavoured to pull it towards the rock to moor while he
explored round its foot. Directly he checked its drift it
began to cant, rock, and sway, and finally gave signs of
foundering. The result was that he found himself up to his
knees in ice-cold, swirling water, striving hard to drag him
down. It was with the greatest difficulty that he could
maintain his balance, but though he was swung from side to
side, each successive lurch being worse than its predecessor,
and each of which threatened to pitch him in the river, he
completed his task, though he was on tenterhooks the
whole time.

While we were toiling laboriously over the execrable
trail winding along the eastern bank of the Miette River,
carefully picking every inch of our way amid a pile of loose
rock — the disintegrated mass which was formerly part of
the mountain wall rearing above us — suddenly we heard a
shout and the rap, rap of boulders cluttering down. It was
a regular fusillade, and we scampered to safety, fearing a
rock-slide. Glancing in the direction of the hail, we saw a
young engineer coming down the steep slope floundering
among the boulders, which his movements set in motion.
A thick leather belt encircled his waist, and he was being
steadied in his descent by a rope held by two companions
on the ledge above. The line was to run through this mass,
and he was looking for a new location, if such were feasible.
He was endeavouring to secure a foothold amongst a loose
mass of shale, which is as treacherous as surface-frozen

A NEW YEAR'S EVE 175

slush and as slippery as ice. It was an elusive ejffort, for
each time he planked his boot down he set a mass of the
loose rock in motion, somewhat to our discomfiture below,
as a twenty-pound stone accumulates a respectable force
after it has cascaded 100 feet or so down a mountain slope
falling almost vertically.

Yet the work has its humorous side. One of the party
which spent a winter in the Pine River Pass confessed that
the New Year's Eve they celebrated amongst the Indians in
that snow-girt country was one of the most enjoyable he
ever experienced.

" The Indians invited the whole of us to their festivities.
Needless to say, we accepted it cheerfully, anxious to secure
some little variation in our round of monotony. There was
to be a dance, and it proved to be the most extraordinary
display of the terpsichorean art I had ever seen. There was
an open space in the centre of the shack in which a box was
placed. The red folk were grouped on one side of the apart-
ment and we were on the other. The Indians opened the
proceedings. One or two were musicians, if you can
describe the tom-tom as capable of emitting music, and
they created an awful noise.

" Then one of the damsels rose, advanced to the centre of
the cleared space and bowed towards us. Not one of us
understood their language, but we could make them under-
stand us, and with a few words of English we proceeded
very comfortably. She was inviting a partner. I must
confess that we were all exceedingly bashful, and hung back
until the chief of our party picked me up by the collar and
pitched me into the middle of the room. That was my
introduction to my partner, and as I could not draw back,
I took the bull by the horns and joined hands. I do not
boast any pretensions to waltzing, but that dance was the
most bizarre that I ever saw. It was a kind of limp round
the box to the strains and time of the music, and was re-
markable as much for its monotony as slow time. Still I

176 A NEW YEAR'S EVE

completed my dance, and then, when we retired to our
respective seats, and another blushing red maiden ad-
vanced in turn, I having compulsorily broken the ice, there
was no^ hesitation among my colleagues. One after the
other, we all went through the " lame-duck dance," as we
termed it. Meantime the Indians, who were the embodi-
ment of hospitality, produced native concocted refresh-
ments, which we, in strict friendliness, were compelled to
enjoy.

" Now among these Indians we ascertained that New
Year's Eve is the occasion for the mutual bestowal of
presents. Each maiden in turn accompanies her partner
out of the apartment, and there the exchange of gifts is
made. Among the Indians themselves rifles, horses, and
what not enter into this part of the programme. We
quickly rummaged our pockets to see if each could muster
up some trivial, attractive gewgaw to offer to our respective
partners. Here again I was so unfortunate as to be selected
as the pioneer of our party. I escorted my partner to the
exterior of the shack, and there presented her with a cheap
brooch tie-pin which I had been carrying in my vest-
pocket. In return she pressed a piece of paper into my
hand. We both made our reappearance, the young Indian
lady highly pleased with her specimen of Brummagem
jewellery, while I made a sly peep into my half -opened
hand to see what I had obtained in exchange. To my
surprise it was a 5 -dollar note ! A cheap little piece of
jewellery for a sovereign ? That was not a bad deal, and
I can assure you that my companions were backward no
longer. Searching pockets for little pieces of cheap
jewellery was industrious and thorough."

But such interludes to the surveyor and his little party
are few and far between. For the most part it is hard, un-
remitting toil, bristling with perils, to which those of an
explorer are insignificant, demanding thoroughness in the
execution as millions of money depend upon the outcome.

"FOUR-TENTHS VAN" 177

But the industry and privations suffered by the surveying
engineers will meet their reward in the interests of com-
merce. The expresses of the Grand Trunk Pacific will be
able to rattle through the formidable Rocky Mountains at
the same speed as they can hurtle over the prairies, a
result which is certain to spell success.

There is one man whose identification with this remark-
able achievement will never be obliterated. It will cling to
him day and night through his life. Earl Grey, in an after-
dinner speech, made a reference to the future of this rail-
way, and paid a compliment to those who had been
associated with the planning of the enterprise. " But there
is one man," he remarked, " to whom I think four-tenths of
the credit is due." This sly allusion to Mr. Van Arsdoll and
the grade at once appealed to the guests, and straightway
the engineer responsible for the survey of the line west of
Edmonton was nicknamed " Four-tenths Van," and as
such he is known among the railway men from Winnipeg
to the Pacific Coast to-day.

CHAPTER XIII

PREPARING FOR THE ATTACK ON THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

WOLF CREEK is the official starting-point of the
Mountain Division, and receives its name from the
little stream which empties into the MacLeod River at this
point. The latter was selected as a natural dividing point,
because the prairie rolling all the way from Winnipeg,
which, after Edmonton is passed, becomes slightly more
undulating, here comes to an abrupt termination, the
configuration of the country changing with startling
suddenness. This feature, by the way, is characteristic of
Canada, which is essentially a country of vivid contrasts.
The creek is the only intimation to the traveller that he has
left the prairie behind, inasmuch as there is no further
indication of the fact. Even the station gives no clue,
since it is called Thornton.

From this point the Rocky Mountains are visible, their
eternally white snow-caps scintillating with ice like fleecy
clouds floating in the sky. Looking to the south the range
assumes a very threatening aspect, the jagged crests
thickly massed together towering high into the air, and
offering a solid resistance to penetration. But as the eye
travels along this rugged horizon in a sweep to the west,
the barrier is observed to taper away very rapidly, as well
as opening up, as it were, with wider and wider gaps
occurring between the pinnacles, which themselves do not
appear to rise to such altitudes. As the bird flies the
tumbled phalanx of granite to the south is perhaps 40
or 60 miles distant, but the railway traverses a matter of

178

DIFFICULTIES OF CONSTRUCTION 179

70 miles or more before it enters the range, the line and
mountain barrier respectively forming the two sides of a
triangle, the apex of which is at Prairie Creek, under the
shadow of Folding Mountain, the outermost foot-hill of
the range.

The country between Wolf Creek and the gateway to
the Rockies is broken up extensively by the meandering
waterways and low hills which rise up in regular sequence,
to culminate in the " Divide," a ridge forming the water-
shed of the MacLeod and Athabaska Rivers, to cross which
the traveller afoot has to toil, as I did, over a fearsome trail
to a height of nearly 4650 feet, though the line makes an
easier crossing some miles to the north. When Prairie
Creek is gained the foot-hills sheer up like a formidable wall,
and are exceptionally steep on the eastern face, being in
places almost perpendicular cliffs.

In pushing forward from Wolf Creek the constructional
engineers were handicapped severely by the difficulties
confronting the forwarding of supplies and provisions.
Construction was carried out at various places along a
section of 100 miles, and the camps were strung out in an
attenuated line at intervals of 1| to 2 miles. Every ounce
of material had to be dispatched from one end, as it was
impossible to send it to various points along the line, owing
to complete absence of transportation facilities. Edmonton
became the base of operations and transport had to be
maintained over the slender, thin line of communication
stretching for 123 miles between the capital of Alberta and
the end of steel.

The contract for the first section of the Mountain
Division aggregated 170 miles, and comprised the subjuga-
tion of the Rockies, the opposite end being Tete Jaune
Cache, on the western slopes of the range, nestling on the
banks of the Eraser, in the valley which divides the Rockies
from the Selkirks. It was absolutely impossible to attempt
forwarding supplies or to commence construction from that

180 SLOW TRAVELLING

end, inasmuch as it was 540 miles from the nearest available
point on the western side of the mountains. Consequently
the advance was relatively slow. Even then for several
months it was only possible to forward material by rail so
far as Wolf Creek, as the progress of the steel was inter-
rupted by the building of two large bridges, aggregating
1200 feet, within half a mile ; and here again the first had
to be completed to permit the advance of trains before the
second could be commenced.

Grading, however, was continued at several points along
the succeeding 100 miles, and as these camps housed large
numbers of men demanding provisions and a thousand and
one other necessities, the organisation that had to be
elaborated to keep the front well supplied would have done
justice to an army advancing through hostile country.
Long trains laden to their utmost capacity with all sorts
and conditions of goods, from canned fruits to posts
and wire for fencing ; from rice to cumbersome sections of
steel for bridges ; from pork and beans to horses and mules,
crawled westwards from Edmonton to the end of steel
continuously. I travelled to the rail-head in this wise, and
it was a painful, though unique, experience. The train was
the oddest assortment of vehicles that was ever coupled to
a locomotive, and as the line was in its skeleton form,
i.e. had not been ballasted, the train rocked and rolled like a
vessel minus its bilge keels. At every mile or so we pulled
up to discharge some freight or other at an intermediate
point. At times the train slowed down to permit of posts
and wire for fencing being tumbled out pell-mell along the
permanent way.

At Wabamun Lake there was a halt for the midday
meal. While the driver and crew of the train refreshed the
inner man some of our party beguiled the tedium of the
delay by fishing, and succeeded in landing some magnificent
specimens of whitefish, which formed an appetising dish
when our journey was resumed, and offered some com-

SLOW TRAVELLING 181

pensation for the pause in our journey. Now and again
there would be a stop, and the clang, clang of hammers
and vituperations from men wrestling with the internals
of the locomotive testified that something had gone wrong
with our steed. Never once did the sjDced of the train rise
above 8 miles an hour, and to cover 123 miles occupied
36 hours ! That train was the joke of the little colony
assembled round the end of steel, and was promptly nick-
named " The Flier." It was fortunate for us that the
driver was not smitten suddenly with the speed mania, for
I am afraid that disaster would have been swift and sudden
on that rude track.

When the end of steel was gained there was bustle and
animation on every side, for the contents of the cars had
to be sorted out and dispatched to their respective destina-
tions without delay. From morning to night waggons of
all descriptions streamed out of the little town, hurrying
the material to the various camps ahead. Everything had
to be dispatched by the waggon road, a tedious and exact-
ing operation, under animal haulage, entailing grim fights
with treacherous muskeg, slippery rock, and turbulent
creeks every few hundred yards. As we toiled along the
waggon road on the back of a pack-horse, we were jostled
into the bush every few minutes by a waggon as it came
lumbering along as fast as its ungainly gait, weight, and
the conditions of the road surface would permit. The
drivers or freighters paused for nothing. They were
working at a low, cut-throat wage of a few halfpence per
pound, and the greater the number of miles they could
crowd into a day the more they could earn.

It speaks volumes for the organisation that planned the
transport of material over such a distance and against such
odds that never once did a breakdown occur. There was
too careful attention to detail to permit this contingency.
Now and again a locomotive would be derailed and a few
precious hours be lost, but allowance was made for such

182 COSTLY PRELIMINARIES

contingencies, so that it did not affect the transport
machine to a pronounced degree. Every now and again,
as we plodded along the trail we met grim evidences of the
penalty paid by the freighters in their mad haste in the form
of the bleached carcase of some animal which had come to
grief on the journey, and meeting with an irreparable in-
jury, had been shot summarily. Some of the vehicles were
hauled by oxen, and though these brutes were slow, their
great strength enabled them to cope with difficulties in the
mud-holes and muskeg whei'e the horse or mule would have
been hopeless. Besides, as one freighter sagely remarked,
" oxen are the better investments, for if one has a fall and
meets with an injury compelling slaughter, it can provide
us with some fresh meat for a few days."

Impatient critics time after time have assailed the slow
advance in constructional work on the Mountain Division,
and comparisons odious to this particular undertaking have
been drawn freely. But their hostility betrayed their
ignorance of the true state of affairs, and of the galling
difficulties that confronted the builders at every turn. As
the mountains were approached the resistance of Nature
became sterner and sterner. The rail was pushed through
an entirely new and unknown country, where transporta-
tion was in its infancy, where the forest and mountain-side
were trackless, and where the rivers cannot be equalled in
turbulency. Had those critics who talked so glibly visited
the front and thus gained a first-hand, face-to-face im-
pression of the obstacles that reared up at every foot ad-
vance, and which had to be broken down by sheer physical
effort or ingenuity, they would have told a different story,
and marvelled not at the slow pace that was made, but at
the fact that progress was made at all.

Before a single waggon-load could be sent out of Wolf
Creek a waggon road had to be blazed through the forest.
The contractor informed me that this would have to be
done for 170 or more miles, in order, to gain Tete Jaune

MACLEOD AND ATHABASCA RIVERS 183

Cache, and by the time the latter point was reached over
1200,000, or £40,000, would have been expended in this
essential preliminary operation, for a road cannot be
driven through such country as this for less than $1000, or
£200, a mile. It was not merely a matter of cutting a
swathe so many feet in width through the thick bush — such
was an easy task to men expert with the axe. But the
pathway as cleared was impassable to a road vehicle, so
other gangs followed on their tracks with picks, shovels,
ploughs, and other handy tools, together with adequate
supplies of horses to ease banks, level off humps, and to fill
depressions, in order that the task imposed upon the
freighting teams might be reduced appreciably. Where
stretches of muskeg were encountered these had to be
" fixed " by means of a corduroy bridge of sufficient
strength to support the weight of the cumbrous laden
vehicles.

The rivers occasioned many anxious moments. Small
creeks could be forded or bridged upon the corduroy
principle, but such waterways as the MacLeod and Atha-
baska offered different problems, as these rivers are wide
and run swiftly, in addition to bringing down considerable
flotsam and jetsam in the form of trees and other debris.
The only means of crossing was by ferry, and these had to
be installed. They are simple devices, there being an over-
head trolley to guide the ungainly rectangular vessel across
the stream, propulsion being provided by the current of the
river. Yet their installation cost from £3000 to £5000,
since all material had to be brought up by waggon to the
site. The ferry across the Athabaska at the Roche Miette
was a troublesome undertaking. The river describes a
sudden swinging bend, the foot of the mountain thrusting
itself into the waterway. A waggon-road over the moun-
tain shoulder following the trail was impossible, so the
opposite side of the river had to be gained. The ferry was
erected with considerable difficulty, after much exasperating

184 CAMPS

delay, especially in regard to the heavier and bulkier
material, which had to be teamed in over 100 miles. But
the river has an ugly current, and before the ferry was
brought into full working order there was an accident
which wrought considerable damage, the boat being torn
away from the overhead trolley line by the velocity of the
current and wrecked.

As the waggon road advanced the camps were established
at intervals for the accommodation of the workmen. The
railway-builders' camp of to-day is vastly different from
the tumble-down shacks which sufficed as the navvy's home
in the wilderness in the early railway days of North America.
Now they are substantial buildings of logs, chinked with
moss to secure warmth and cosiness during the winter. The
camp-builders followed hard on the heels of the waggon-
road builder, and in some instances were ahead of the latter.
They selected a suitable site near an ample supply of fresh
water, cleared a large area, and with trees felled in the
vicinity erected the temporary homes. This task alone
involved an outlay varying from $3000 to $6000 — ^from
£600 to £1200, according to the importance of the camp
and the number of men it was designed to accommo-
date.

At Prairie Creek the constructional engineers provided a
hospital. It was a roomy building built of logs, divided
into two wards, each of which contained fifteen beds, and
was fitted with every convenience. The dispensary was
likewise commodious and well stocked, while the operating
theatre, a small apartment, was finished off in white
American cloth to facilitate sterilisation and cleaning. I
have been in hospitals situate in the midst of teeming cities,
and yet have seen none to compare in point of equipment
with that over which I was shown in the heart of the wilds
on the banks of the Athabaska at Prairie Creek. It was a
strange blend of civilisation and primevalism ; an in-
congruous setting in the frame of wilderness, thrown into

PROVISIONING THE CAMPS 185

stronger relief at the time of my visit by the Indian encamp-
ment on the opposite side of the noble waterway.

When the camps were completed the most important
phase of the operations necessary for the furtherance of
the grade were taken in hand. This was the provisioning
of each camp with a sufficiency and variety of supplies
for the needs of the navvies. Toiling in the virgin purity
of Canada's western atmosphere at an altitude of some
2500 feet above sea-level provoked Gargantuan appetites,
while the prospect of the camp being buried in the steel
grip of winter for some five or six months necessitated
catering for emergencies. There were about fifty camps
scattered between Wolf Creek and Jasper Park, a distance
of about 90 miles, in addition to roomy caches packed
from ground to roof with every imaginable description of
food-stuffs and merchandise in demand by the men en-
gaged on the grade. Yet the establishment of these camps
had involved an outlay of between $2,000,000 and
$4,000,000, or from £400,000 to £800,000, before a sod
was turned. The caches on this stretch alone were stocked
with provisions and supplies valued at over $1,000,000, or
£200,000, at the time that I made my way along the
grade.

But although the summer afforded a glimpse of extra-
ordinary bustle and the woods echoed with stentorian
cries, sadly out of place in the silent wilderness, as the
freighters strained every nerve to reap the utmost obtain-
able by freighting goods at 2|d. per pound over a crude
road 120 miles in length, it was during winter that the
greatest animation prevailed. So soon as the snow had
enveloped the ground in its white mantle and the surfaces
of the turbulent rivers were sheathed in a thick, glassy
armour, scores of sleighs were fashioned and hundreds of
horses and mules were pressed into service in an endless
stream. They sped over the crisp, crackling snow trail
connecting the camps in a continuous chain, the toboggans

186 TOBOGGANS

being laden to creaking point with piles of supplies. The
work was hard and incessant, for snow transportation is
the cheapest method of conveyance in a country where no
railway exists, and the horses can make a merry pace over
the packed, even surface. The jingle of bells broke the
solitude of the whitened country, and the drivers, encased
in their thick furs, laughed heartily and merrily, in striking
contrast to their summer sullen demeanour, as they swept
along, for although the freighting rate was lower than by
team and waggon, the money was more easily earned.

The toboggans were packed to a dangerous extent, for
the amount of goods that had to be freighted in while the
snow held the ground ran into thousands of tons. One
winter over 30,000 tons were transported to the various
camps from the end of steel within a very short time.
And these gliding vehicles carried everything and any-
thing. This was packed with bales of hay to a height that
threatened to capsize the vehicle, for every camp pos-
sessed a capacious barn stocked with immense reserves of
fodder for the animals engaged on the grade ; that bore
cases of tinned comestibles ; another was charged with
clothes, boots, shirts, and what not for the stores ; a fourth
was laden with nothing but flour ; while others transported
huge baulks of timber or sections of steel -work, and so on.
The two streams of traffic, the outgoing laden and the
incoming empty, poured up and down the winter trail like
the endless belt of a conveyor, and the vehicles followed
so closely together that one travelling over the road on
snow-shoes was scarcely ever out of sight of a sleigh.

At times the heroic was attempted, despite the excep-
tional difficulties with which it bristled. When I gained a
remote point along the grade, I was surprised to find a big
locomotive and dozens of trucks busy at work dumping
the spoil that was being removed by two huge steam-
shovels. How did they get there ? The train could not
have run in under its own power, for the end of steel was

A BOLD EXPEDIENT 187

some 28 miles to the rear, and the road was broken by
yawning gulfs where rivers waited to be spanned. Nor
could it have come by road. Reflection upon the troubles
of the primitive highway, with its stretches of swamp
which would have sucked down once and for all such a
weight as a locomotive had it been caught in its terrible
embrace, convinced me that such was not its means of
entry. I was somewhat puzzled until, seated round the
blazing camp fire at night, the engineer volunteered an ex-
planation. It had come in by road, but it was over a road
of snow, and its vehicle of transportation was a crude
platform carried on runners.

When the mountain section was commenced, the con-
structional engineers realised that the advance of the steel
beyond Wolf Creek would be delayed for an indefinite
period. In addition to the two big bridges that were to
be built over the Wolf Creek and MacLeod River, a huge
timber trestle, over half a mile in length, was planned
across Sun Dance Creek, at the Big Eddy about 16 miles
west of the MacLeod River. But 10 miles beyond this
trestle there was a heavy piece of excavation through the
hump of a hill, and to cope with this a steam shovel, loco-
motive, and trucks were imperative. If they waited until
the steel reached this point, progress would be delayed a
considerable time until the cutting was pierced. There-
fore the builders decided upon a bold expedient.

The winter had scarcely gripped the country when one
day an engine, hauling a train of ballast trucks and two
steam-shovels, steamed to the end of steel. Within a short
time gangs of men were swarming over the 60-ton loco-
motive, knocking it to pieces, while other gangs were
treating the trucks and steam-shovels similarly. As the
train was dismembered the parts were laden up on special
sleighs, and within a few days a sight strange even to the
Far West, the land of curious spectacles, was to be seen.
Hundreds of mules and horses were pulling and tugging at

188 J. W. STEWART

a train of flat decks mounted on runners piled up with
wheels, rails, and other odds and ends. The boiler of the
locomotive was shored up on one large toboggan and its
tender on another, each being hauled by a score or so of
horses. The train — ^lock, stock, and barrel — was being
transported 28 miles across country I Upon arrival at the
big cut the gangs of mechanics retrieved the numbered
pieces of the various^ trucks, engine, and steam-shovels,
and were soon hard at work resetting them in their original
places. Before long steam was raised, and the engine
puffed along the short length of track that had meanwhile
been laid down, while the steam shovel swung its jib and
devoured mouthfuls of spoil. The men on that cut were
proud of their handiwork, for, as they acknowledged, it
was " a pretty tough proposition." When I arrived the
hill was being demolished with a rapidity that augured well
for the completion of the cut by the time the track-layer
crossed Sun Dance Creek.

The camp facilities included a temporary telephone wire,
which trailed through the woods linking up each camp,
and all business was transacted by this method of com-
munication. Every camp, when fully stocked, carried
supplies sufficient to tide the men over nine months, so
that the possibility of their being reduced to short rations
was remote in the extreme, for no breakdown in the line
of communication would have been beyond repair within
that space of time.

Railway-building amidst such formidable mountains as
the Rockies is certainly exceedingly expensive when it
entails the laying out of something like a million sterling
to prepare the ground for the navvies upon a mere stretch
of less than 100 miles ! And, moreover, it is a phase of
engineering where losses can be incurred so easily and to
such an extent as to bring swift disaster. It calls for a
guiding spirit possessed of abundant determination, re-
source, and to the manner born in organisation and the

J. W. STEWART 189

handling of men. In this particular instance the enter-
prise was controlled by one, Mr. J. W. Stewart, who has
spent the greater part of his life in railway-building among
the mountains of America. He gained his first impressions
of the tremendous difficulties surrounding such tasks when
attached to a survey party that planned the path through
the mountains of British Columbia for the first Canadian
trans-continental railway. Subsequently he built a short
length of the road, the plotting of which had entailed such
labour, and from that point proceeded to larger and larger
mountain railway engineering undertakings, each with
conspicuous success. This unique experience, spread over
some thirty years, had familiarised him with the peculiar
conditions attending such work, with the result that he
faced the construction of 300 miles of line through the
most difficult and broken country with as much confidence
as he assumed the building of a line across the level
prairie. As he confessed to me : " It is merely a question
of organisation — the technical difficulties of construction
are of minor importance. But one must have men ; and
they must be fed, housed, and equipped with tools ; ready
for any class of work that may confront them."

CHAPTER XIV

BUILDING THE LINE THROUGH THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

IT was when the railway crossed the MacLeod River
that constmction commenced in grim earnest. At
this point the grade is at an altitude of 2855 feet, yet to
traverse the mountains it rises only a further 868 feet at the
Yellowhead Pass, this ascent being overcome in about 130
miles. The profile of the grade between the two points
is a steady, almost continuous climb. Seeing that the
Yellowhead Pass marks the summit level of the line, such
a slight ascent is remarkable.

Proceeding westwards from Wolf Creek the line clings to
the hill-tops, which roll away like waves to the foot-hills of
the Rockies. For the most part these ridges are threaded
by the MacLeod River, the slopes tumbling down almost
perpendicularly into the water. The result is somewhat
startling. The builders have resorted extensively to side-
hill excavation on the brow, so that the line is laid upon a
narrow shelf, and from the track one has a view of a sheer
drop of 200 feet or so into the river ambling along below.
The crests of these hills were blown away in large masses by
the aid of dynamite, the spoil not required for filling de-
pressions being sent with a rattle and a roar down the cliff
face — an economical method for disposing of excavated
material for which there was no utility. As I picked my
way along the grade, which could be followed easily by the
location stakes and the tracks of the clearers, who had cut
the right of way for the ribbon of steel, I happened upon
isolated gangs of navvies working in little pits.

190

THE MACLEOD RIVER 191

At first sight one might have thought they were merely
quarrying for the stone, as the huge blocks were torn and
prised out to a depth of 15, 20, or 30 feet, but when one
examined more closely, it was to be seen that the galleries
were being driven right and left, and at places they had
met, leaving a hollowed-out passage-way 20 feet wide to
form the bed for the pair of rails. Although the country is
broken extensively, it was found possible to select a suitable
location involving the minimum of heavy steel bridge-
work. After leaving the MacLeod River there is not
another heavy metal bridge for 72 miles, when Prairie
Creek has to be spanned by a structure 800 feet in length.
Then there is another free run of about 30 miles before the
Athabaska is crossed by a massive structure which is one of
the longest and largest works of this class on the whole line.

For mile after mile progress was somewhat slow, as the
rock proved hard, and could not be displaced without re-
course to the disintegrating forces of dynamite and black
powder. Boxes of this agent and lengths of wire trailed on
all sides, and now and again one saw a puff of dust and
smoke, with a stream of massive boulders hurtling down
the cliff face, as the rock-hogs tore their way forward re-
lentlessly.

Such work is typical throughout the whole of the moun-
tain section, and the rate of advance varied according to
the character of the soil encountered. Solid hard rock gave
way in turn to sand, gravel, and muskeg. The last-named
was perhaps the most uninviting material with which the
navvies were brought face to face. It is a vicious, slimy
substance, and the excavators were bespattered from head
to foot like mud-larks. As they ploughed their way through
the mass a miniature lake formed in their rear due to the
water draining out of the bog on either hand, and accumu-
lating in the depression until the hump was pierced at last
and an outlet formed for the imprisoned water, which went
rushing and tumbling into a creek or river.

192 CUTTINGS

The specifications concerning the work were drawn up on
stringent lines. In cuttings the sides have a slope of 1| to 1
where earth is encountered ; 1 to 1 in regard to loose rock ;
and 5 to 1 through solid rock. The width of the cut at sub-
grade level, that is the level ready for the receipt of ballast,
is 22 feet through earth, and 20 feet through rock. In
regard to embankments the slope on either hand is 1| to 1
for earth, and 1 to 1 in rock, by 16 feet wide at sub-grade
level when the embankment is less than 16 feet high, in-
creased to 18 feet in width when the earthwork exceeds
the latter height.

The preliminary task of clearing was to a great extent
performed under contract, which system proved the most
expeditious, but where this was impossible the clearers as a
rule received $40, or £8, per acre, which approximated
about 400 feet run of right-of-way. This wage, it may be
mentioned, was inclusive of living. The timber as felled
was piled up and destroyed, except such as might be
deemed useful for other purposes. If any felling outside
the prescribed width of the right-of-way became necessary,
if, for instance, the list of a tree proved dangerous to the
safety of the railway, it had to be removed, the men being
paid so much per tree for this extra cutting. After the trees
had been felled the stumps had to be removed and de-
stroyed similarly, the contract price for clearing invariably
including the subsequent operation of grubbing.

This task had to be carried out with a certain amount of
care, because of the danger of creating forest fires of a
highly ruinous character, and as Canada's loss per annum
from this cause represents a huge figure every year, no
effort was spared to reduce this damage from the clearing
of the right-of-way. Owing to the precautions observed,
conflagrations among the forests attributable to the rail-
way clearers were practically nil, though at times, as I saw,
the standing trees on either hand had run a very narrow
escape, for the dry dead-fall when fired flared like shavings.

BRULE LAKE 193

Here and there the builders were confronted by tre-
mendous difficulties, such as in the vicinity of Brule Lake,
at the entrance to the Rockies. This sheet of water is in
reality an enlargement of the Athabaska River, the
southern bank being deeply indented, and the soil a light
sand. The railway skirts the southern bank, and in order
to preserve the grade, heavy embankment work was
requisite. The remarkable feature of this sheet of water is
that it is always swept by a wind which at times assumes
the fury of a gale. Even at the time of my arrival in mid-
summer, when the air a few hundred yards inland was
oppressively still, a keen breeze played across this lake.
This peculiarity is attributed to the fact that the expanse
lies in the path of the funnel formed by the passage of the
river through the mountains, and through this constricted
channel the wind is forced to make its way like a huge
draught, to expend its force upon this area of water. Be
that as it may, its existence resulted in a pretty battle
between Nature and the engineers, and the struggle for
supremacy lasted a long time.

As fast as the sand was excavated from a cutting and
dumped to form an embankment, it was picked up by the
wind and driven back again. On this short length of line
around the lake there are two notable pieces of work, a
cutting from which 87,000 cubic yards were removed, and
an embankment built up of 117,000 cubic yards. The
broad, high surface of the latter suffered from the full force
of the wind, which picked up the sand in dense clouds and
drove it irresistibly forward into the cut. At last the
engineers erected a series of screens which deflected the
eddying, circling wind laden with dust, the latter falling
helplessly against these obstructions, and in time forming
a natural protection to the cutting. So far as the slope of
the embankment was concerned, the expedient of protect-
ing its surface with scrub was adopted and found to be
highly successful.

194 MATTRESSES FOR MUSKEG

The broken character of the country, especially in the
immediate vicinity of the mountains, necessitated con-
siderable excavation, and the fills where the removed spoil
could be used to advantage often entailed a relatively long
haul. The excavators were compelled to carry the spoil
over a distance of 500 feet free, in accordance with the
terms of the contract ; when it became necessary to exceed
the limit of this free haulage extra payment was awarded
on the basis of 1 cent — |d. — per cubic yard for every
additional 100 feet, up to a total haul of 900 feet from the
site of the excavation.

Occasionally bad stretches of muskeg were encountered,
which, from their low-lying situation, could not be drained
effectively, while the depth of the swamp militated against
the formation of a solid embankment. From foundation-
level in such cases corduroying or " cross-way ing " had to
be resorted to, as already mentioned, the earthwork super-
structure being supported on a sunken mattress. The
latter was built up of logs not less than 6 inches in diameter
to a depth of 12 inches. On the top of this structure brush
and branches were laced, to form a kind of thatching, and
carried to a thickness of at least 18 inches, so that the full
depth of the mattress was some 2 feet 6 inches. Occasion-
ally circumstances demanded the construction of a more
substantial foundation of this character, some of these
mattresses attaining formidable proportions and standing
5 feet in height, when laid in position on the surface of the
morass. The mattress was then sunk into the unstable soil
by superimposed stone and earthen embankment, and
immersed completely in water, where in course of time it
will be transformed into a solid and substantial plinth, as
the wood becomes water-logged thoroughly.

Trestling had to be resorted to in order to bridge de-
pressions of such great depth and width as could not be
spanned quickly by embankment. Sun Dance Creek, at
the point where it flows into the MacLeod River, had to be

BEAVERS VERSUS ENGINEERS 195

crossed in this manner, the requisite structure entailing the
erection of a network of timber half a mile in length by
125 feet in height at the centre, whereas the creek itself is
an insignificant brook barely 20 feet across. In the centre
the trestle is composed of five tiers, each 25 feet in height,
and it constitutes one of the largest works of this character
on the mountain division. In due course, however, the
rivulet is to be provided with a substantial bridge carried
out in ferro-concrete or steel, and the maze of timber-work
on either side then will disappear beneath a massive pile of
earth. In another instance, owing to two large sheets of
water obstructing the progress of the line, the former were
first emptied, and a trestle and earthen embankment
erected upon the exposed water-bed.

One of the engineers related an amusing experience that
befell a party working on a section of the line running
through the great national Game Preserve, extending over
5000 square miles, and known as Jasper Park. The line
traversed a belt of swampy ground, and investigation re-
vealed the fact that it was a beaver colony, the industrious
engineers of Nature having erected a dam so substantial in
character as to defy destruction except by the aid of
dynamite. The grade had to be carried across one end of
their pond, and instructions were issued that the animals
were to be disturbed no more than was absolutely neces-
sary. After lowering the beavers' lake by making an in-
significant breach, the workmen set to work to prepare the
foundations for the grade within the area of the pond,
secure in their safety. One morning, to their great dismay,
they observed the water to be rising suddenly. Discarding
their tools, they beat a hurried retreat, and within a very
short time the enclosure was filled with water to its original
level.

Somewhat puzzled, the workmen made an investigation,
and found that the beavers had detected the breach that
had been made in their structure, and had promptly

196 CUTTING A SHELF FOR THE LINE

repaired it. Directly the outflow was checked the pond
filled up very quickly, since it was fed by a creek. The
navvies made another break in the wall and resumed work,
only to be driven from their work once more a few days
later. Time after time they were fl^ooded out in this
manner, for the animals always succeeded in discovering
the cause of the water around their home falling below the
critical level, from their point of view, and although the
workmen, in their desire not to frighten the beavers away,
resorted to extreme cunning in effecting a breach, it fell far
below the intelligence of the animals in repairing the in-
jury. Still the men completed their task without openly
breaking up the beaver's retreat, though they were well-
nigh driven to do so at times.

Once the foot-hills were passed and the main range was
entered advance became slower, for at times it was by
dynamite only that the railway could make its way. The
Roche Miette necessitated some heavy work of this cha-
racter, for the toe of the mountain drops sheer into the
Athabaska, which is forced somewhat out of its course by
the interruption of the mass of rock, and consequently
describes a sharp bend. The cliff face is about 80 to 100
feet high, and the railway was plotted along this wall
about 10 feet above high-water mark. To cut the requisite
shelf to carry the pair of metals, thousands of tons of rock
had to be blasted out, and the spoil thus removed was
dumped into the river to build up the embankment. The
force of the water at this point is tremendous at times, for
when in flood the Athabaska rushes round this bend at
about ten miles an hour, while the sudden deviation of
the current sets up such heavy scouring as to threaten to
wash the embankment away. But the navvies dumped
the rock overboard in such solid masses as to defy their
removal by the fiercest of water, and the embankment
created is as solid as the mountain rearing up sheer on the
one hand.

THE COLIN MOUNTAINS 197

After the Roche Miette is passed a water-logged valley
riven by the numerous channels of the Rocky River ex-
tends for several miles, followed by earthwork through
sand alongside Jasper Lake, and then the line sweeps
suddenly across the waterway, the southern bank of which
is hemmed in by the Colin Mountains, which form an
almost perpendicular wall towering to a height of several
hundred feet. To cross the river, which at this point is
about 600 feet wide, a massive, lofty steel bridge was
necessary ; but when the northern bank was gained there
existed a gently undulating bench along the centre of
which the locating engineers planted their stakes, and in
such a manner as to ensure an almost straight line for a
few miles. Then the grade describes a wide sweep and
enters the Miette River Valley. This is a narrow ravine,
no more than a mere cleft, with the mountain-sides sloping
down to the water's edge at an angle of about 60 degrees
and broken to an extreme degree. Here the builders are
being forced high up on the hill-side, both to secure the
grade and to facilitate construction, for the river falls very
sharply into the Athabaska.

The rock for the most part is a slippery shale associated
with limestone, and at places the cost per mile is proving
exceedingly costly. Evidences of heavy rock-slides and
landslips are to be seen on every hand, and the skill with
which the locating engineers have avoided these direful
visitations is a striking tribute to the thorough manner in
which the survey was effected. At places, owing to the
spurs of the mountains jutting right out to the water's
edge, Herculean work is necessary to hew a gallery 20 feet
in width for the ribbon of steel. As the valley is pene-
trated the mountains crowd closer and closer together,
and the surveyor was hard put to it to plot a foothold at
an economical outlay. The Miette River in its upper
reaches becomes broken up into a number of channels,
inasmuch as the configuration of the country does not

198 A NATURAL PORTAL

permit the water to pour its full volume through a single
passage. Then, Just when the outlook assumes its most
threatening aspect, the line swings across the river and
attains its highest altitude or summit — the Yellowhead
Pass.

At this point, where the line " passes " from Alberta
into British Columbia, the mountains roll back, leaving a
broad defile a thousand feet or so in width. It is a natural
portal through the mountains, and has given the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway an advantage of which they cannot
be deprived by any manner of means. The bench mark
alongside the location indicating the summit level records
the altitude at 3723 feet. The rail level will be 3 feet
lower, and this will be the highest point to which the
trains will have to struggle on their long journey of 3543
miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

To comprehend the advantage the Grand Trunk Pacific
possesses in this strategical pathway it is necessary to
recall the heights to which other competing lines crossing
the selfsame range have to toil in order to gain the coast.
First of all, however, it must be pointed out that this is
the only mountain range which has to be negotiated by
the Grand Trunk Pacific, owing to the marvellous manner
in which the Cascades — possibly a more fearsome moun-
tain barrier to the engineer — have been threaded, and which
is related in a subsequent chapter. The following table
illustrates the severe struggle which is imposed upon the
trains of the North American trans-continental railways
in order to overcome the mountains, and how great is the
advantage possessed by the Grand Trunk Pacific in point
of grades and low summit elevation. It will be observed
that the early railways have to toil to extreme heights,
and, moreover, have to negotiate two or three summits
to gain their objectives ; whereas the new Canadian line
has but one solitary summit to surmount. Moreover, it
will be seen that it$; nearest competitor, the Western

INSIGNIFICANT GRADES

199

Pacific, which, like its Canadian rival, is a recent under-
taking, wherein the accumulation of experience has been
brought into effective utilisation, has a maximum grade
twice as heavy as that secured via the Yellowhead Pass.

Name of Railway.

Canadian Pacific

Great Northern (U.S.A )

Northern Pacific (U.S.A.)

Union Pacific (U.S.A.)
(Omaha to San Fran-
cisco) ....

Western Pacific (U.S.A.)
(Salt Lake City to San
Francisco) .

Chicago, Milwaukee, and
Puget Sound (Missouri.
River to Seattle) .

Grand Trunk Pacific
(Winnipeg to Prince
Rupert)

Summit Altitudes.

2 summits
5321 feet

,4351 „

3 summits
5202 feet
4146 „

.3375 „

' 3 summits

5569 feet

5532 „
.2849 „

■ 3 summits
8247 feet
8017 „
5631 „

2 summits
5712 feet
5018 „

3 summits
6350 feet
4160 „

1 summit
3720 feet

Maximum Gradient per Mile.
West-bound. East-bound.

116 feet ... 118 feet

116 feet ... 116 feet

105 feet ... 116 feet

53 feet ... 53 feet

89 feet ... 105 feet

26 feet ... 21 feet

The insignificant grades of the Grand Trunk Pacific are
thrown into stronger relief by comparison with those
existent on other lines. But it means much more from
the operating point of view. The train which can hurtle
over the gently undulating prairie at 40 miles an hour
will be able to rattle through the mountains without
diminishing its speed a fraction — the Rockies have been
made as level and as seductive a galloping ground as the
793 miles run from Winnipeg to Edmonton. Such a feat
is unparalleled in railway history in North America, and

200 AN OBVIOUS PATHWAY

the outlook for this new all-red route is overwhelmingly
attractive. Rate wars may be avoided by the arrange-
ment of tariffs, but the Grand Trunk Pacific will always be
in the position to dictate terms, for its operation must
prove profitable at a figure which would spell financial
disaster to rivals.

The point has been raised often why this obvious path-
way through the mountains for the iron road has not been
seized previously. As a matter of fact, if the counsels of
men who knew had been followed some twenty-five years
ago coast-to-coast railway traffic would have moved via
the Yellowhead Pass. It was the highway for centuries
of the Indians travelling between the interior of the
Dominion and the coast — their trail beaten down by
millions of feet can be seen to this day — but the white
man refused to profit from the Red Man, who followed this
route purely from instinct. True, the adoption of this
route has robbed the construction of the Grand Trunk
Pacific of spectacular engineering achievements. One
looks in vain for those wonderful loops and spirals by
which other lines ascend and descend the mountain chains.
Yet the most impressive feature about this railway is the
fact that it crosses the awe-inspiring Rocky Mountains at
a lower altitude and with a greater ease than many other
competitive lines span the rolling desert, and that without
recourse to prodigious, costly, or picturesque work. The
engineers merely profited from physical conditions : seized
the path that Nature had provided as if in anticipation of
the birth of the railway — that is all.

To show how sharply the Miette River falls to meet the
Athabaska River, the difference in altitude between the
Pass and the junction of the two rivers is 400 feet, while
the distance is 17 miles — a drop of about 23 1 feet per mile.
At the entrance to the Miette Valley the railway grade is
at a point high above the river, whereas when it crosses
the waterway to enter the pass it is at surface-level.

AN OLD SURVEY 201

The skill with which the Grand Trunk Pacific surveyors
found a route via this pass, with grades not exceeding
21 feet per mile, receives striking testimony at this point.
As originally projected, the Canadian Pacific Railway was
to gain the coast by this route. The whole line was sur-
veyed in 1876, and there, standing within easy reach of
the Grand Trunk Pacific summit bench mark, I saw that
erected by Sir Sandford Fleming, c.m.g., a quarter of a
century ago, with the inscription 3723 feet still plainly
discernible. Yet the route then plotted gave a heavier
line than that which now has been found, being, in fact,
one with a ruling grade of 1 per cent — more than twice
that of the Grand Trunk Pacific. Making my way a little
to one side, I found a third summit bench mark, that of
the Canadian Northern Railway, which, following the
abandoned Canadian Pacific location for a considerable
distance, is racing the Grand Trunk Pacific to the coast.
The Canadian Northern Railway, however, is similarly
handicapped by a heavier grade, for it shows a maximum
rise of 52*8 feet, or 1 per cent, per mile.

Leaving the pass the line makes a gentle descent, and
in the course of a few miles meets the " Bad River," as
Simon Fraser, the intrepid explorer, called the waterway
which bears his name. The constructional engineers, in
following its sinuous course, will have a heavy struggle to
maintain their grade, for the river falls sharply through
nothing but a series of wild canyons bristling with pre-
cipitous cliffs on either hand. At places the engineer has
been handicapped so heavily that he has had to leap
across the waterway to gain a narrow shelf where the
preparation of the permanent way can be carried out at
an economical figure, and which is just sufficiently wide
to carry the pair of metals and no more. The plotting of
the line through this gorge to Tete Jaune Cache is a notable
piece of survey engineering, owing to the physical con-
ditions and severe limitations at several places. But

202 THE "BAD RIVER "

although the accepted location was satisfactory, subse-
quent revisions have enabled the engineers to improve
upon a route through country which from its character
was deemed impossible of providing a path easier than
that discovered with so much difficulty in the first instance.
After threading the mountains for some 30 miles the
valley suddenly opens out under the shadow of Mount
Robson, the loftiest and most majestic of Canadian moun-
tains rearing its huge ice cap 13,700 feet into the air.
Hugging the southern bank of the Fraser, bounded by a
lofty perpendicular ice-crowned wall, the line gains the
extensive valley forming the head-waters of the Thompson
and Canoe Rivers at Tete Jaune Cache, which marks the
western entrance to the Rocky Mountains.

CHAPTER XV

AN EMPIRE OF TO-MORROW, AND THE DORMANT RICHES OF
NEW BRITISH COLUMBIA

ONE conspicuous advantage accruing from the loca-
tion of the line through the Yellowhead Pass, and
then striking in a north-westerly direction from Tete
Jaune Cache, has been the complete avoidance of the
Selkirk mountain range. This chain might be described
almost as the outer western flank of the Rockies, though
it is separated from them by a wide fertile valley extend-
ing south-eastwards from TOte Jaune Cache, which carries
the Canoe River into the Columbia, some 180 or 200 miles
distant. When the valley in which Tete Jaune Cache is is
opened up, settlement will spread down this valley rapidly,
for it offers great attractions to the farmer. Indeed, this
depression amid the tumbled snow-clad peaks is as an
oasis in a mighty desert, and the probability is that in
the course of a few years a railway will be carried up the
Canoe River Valley as far as Tete Jaune Cache, where a
junction with the Grand Trunk Pacific will be effected.
By this means the interior of New British Columbia will
be brought into direct communication with the great rail-
way systems of the Western United States. As a feeder
it will be of incalculable value. Such a line, from the in-
formation I gathered on the spot, would offer no great
constructional difficulties, and could be constructed
cheaply, bearing in mind the rugged character of the
surrounding country on either side.

From Tete Jaune Cache the Grand Trunk Pacific pos-

203

204 SOLITUDE AND SILENCE

sesses what might be described as a clear run through the
heart of New British Columbia until the mountains are
encountered once more at Aldermere, near the coast. The
intervening country is of a diversified character, and con-
struction for 400 miles will be closely analogous to that
prevailing in Great Britain, of which, indeed, British
Columbia is a replica on a large scale in many ways. The
obvious route for 190 miles is through the Upper Fraser
River Valley to Fort George, following roughly the course
of the waterway, and this is the route that has been
chosen.

Until the Grand Trunk Pacific surveyors penetrated
this country it was practically a closed book. Scarcely
anything was known concerning its topography, its natural
resources or possibilities, and even to-day the incoming
settler can secure but scanty information to assist him in
his conquest of the wilderness. As we travelled down this
magnificent waterway the solitude and silence were such
as could be felt. For over 320 miles we saw scarcely a
vestige of civilisation. Here and there we met a hardy
prospector toiling among the creeks and tributary rivers
for signs of gold and other minerals, and for the most part
their intrepidity was meeting with inspiriting reward. At
one or two places signs of embryonic settlement were in
evidence, but it required considerable pluck and deter-
mination to penetrate and homestead among those tree-
bound wastes with the railway over 300 miles away, and
the little patches of hay and garden produce were as
isolated as if on the planet Mars.

Yet this country is proving another surprise for the
railway. The dormant timber wealth alone represents
many millions sterling, and for the most part it has escaped
the ravages of the forest fire. The valley is of considerable
width, and the ground slopes gradually upward from the
fringes of the depression to the bases of the mountains
which hem in the vale on every hand. The mighty Fraser

FERTILITY OF THE LAND 205

rolls from side to side in the most bewildering manner,
doubling and redoubling upon itself to an amazing degree.
More than once in our paddle down-stream in the dug-out
we were called upon to make a huge curve nine miles in
length to make barely a mile's advance in an air line. Had
we portaged across the chord of the arc we could have
saved many miles time after time.

A convincing evidence of this extraordinary winding on
the part of the Fraser may be gathered from the fact that
the distance by water between Tete Jaune Cache and Fort
George is 320 miles. The location of the railway is such
that the distance between the two points is reduced to
190 miles, owing to the iron road describing practically a
bee-line through the valley. At one place the Fraser is
left no less than 22 miles to the south.

The fertility of the belt which the line is threading is
astonishing, and the surveyors brought down wondrous
stories of the vast wealth merely awaiting the invasion of
the hardy settler. Nor is this wealth available only to one
ramification of human endeavour. True, the agriculturist
has the greatest opportunities, but his efforts towards the
development of this inland empire will be assisted by
others searching the higher mountain slopes for the
minerals buried in their hearts, the lumberjack who will
revel in a mass of timber which is to be equalled by few
other parts of Canada, and the pulp-wood miller who has
ample supplies of raw material here at his very door, with
adequate water power on the one hand, and excellent
transportation facilities on the other.

The timber at places is among the finest that British
Columbia can offer, famous though its resources are in this
direction in the exploited areas. Yet the latter represent
but the outermost fringe of what is concealed in the in-
terior. For instance, at the present moment the American
Continent is suffering from a famine in cedar. The reserves
of this commodity in the United States have been well-

206 THE LOGGING INDUSTRY

nigh depleted. This has hit the lead-pencil trade with
particular severity, and the manufacturers, driven to ex-
tremities, are to-day pressing the stumps of the trees which
they disdained years ago into service. In Eastern Canada
the farmers of half a century ago, who cleared the young
cedar trees from their settlements and fashioned them into
rude fences, are now disposing of the latter at fancy prices.

Yet in the Fraser River Valley are vast cedar groves
awaiting the stroke of the axe. During my journey I en-
countered fallen monarchs of this wood, laid low by fire
and wind, running up to six feet in diameter, and which,
although in the last stages of decay, afforded evidence of
original soundness to the core. The Douglas fir, spruce,
balsam, hemlock, and other woods stretched for miles from
the water's edge to the slopes of the mountains, while the
pine continued the forestation to the limits of vegetation's
existence, which is between 6000 and 8000 feet above sea-
level. The brilliant colour of the verdure compelled atten-
tion, and recalled memories of home, for the climate within
this extensive vale is closely similar to that experienced in
these islands.

There is every indication that the logging industry will
assume gigantic proportions within this country. Down
on the coast the lumber mills are experiencing greater and
greater difficulty to secure supplies of raw material, but
it is only at places along the shore that profitable areas
of this valuable product can be found within easy access
of the mills. The latter are being forced more and more
every succeeding day to penetrate the interior by hook or
by crook, often in the face of the gravest danger, to gain
their requirements. As the Fraser River opens up, the
local demands for lumber for a thousand and one purposes
will multiply rapidly, and it must be admitted that in
this particular field the immediate future is the most
attractive. What the possibilities of this valley are no one
can say. But a narrow strip along either bank of the

MAGNIFICENT FORESTS 207

waterway has been investigated. The forest is too tangled
and matted in its primevalism to admit of promiscuous pene-
tration. Consequently the land will have to be cleared
systematically and the wall of trees forced back more and
more towards the mountains as settlement spreads inland
from the banks of the waterway.

I met more than one engineer who had been engaged on
the survey through this valley, and who had also been
thrown face to face with the wilderness of Northern
Ontario in the same quest — the grade for the new railway.
But one and all confessed that although the forest of
Ontario was dense and jungle-like, it did not compare in
character with that found in this region. The trees were
more prolific, of greater and more magnificent proportions,
and so resistant to attack that the surveyors were com-
pelled to heroic work to drive the lines for their traverses.
Their story was supported by the companies of surveyors
who were busy at work preparing a land survey for the
Government. These men had prosecuted this task in all
parts of the province, and consequently were experienced
in fathoming the secrets of the forests ; but on this occa-
sion they admitted that they were confronted with a
superhuman task, and were only able to carry out their
work for a mile or so back on either bank of the river.
Beyond that limit was the unknown, and they could afford
no idea of what was concealed there, for the sea of massive
trees stretching so far as the eye could see guarded its
secret tightly.

Yet agriculture will come into its own in this wonderful
territory. The soil is piled up to a great depth with de-
cayed vegetation — the accumulation of centuries — and the
soil is as black as jet with fertiliser. Yet silt is in abun-
dance, for the depression is cut up in all directions by noble
waterways emptying into the Fraser. In times gone by
it is very evident that these rivers were of far greater width
than they are to-day, and that much of the country which

208 THE FUTURE OF THE LAND

is now clothed in vegetation was submerged. The soil is
water-logged heavily, and the homesteaders will be called
upon to carry out simple surface drainage work before
they can hope to bring the land to productiveness. That
the future of agriculture is rosy the luxuriance of the brush
testifies abundantly, for it never could have become so
dank, thick, and high were the soil not rich in the essential
constituents for the support of vegetable life.

Then mining will claim considerable attention. Far
down below Fort George paying traces of gold have been
discovered, and efforts are being made to secure this
wasting metal by dredging. But it is merely placer gold,
though its quantity speaks eloquently of the fact that
somewhere or other on the upper stretches of the Fraser
rich deposits of the yellow metal must exist. I met hardy
prospectors who were following up this yellow trail like
sleuth-hounds, confident that they would find the key to
this treasure-chest of Nature in due course. One party
had met with success on the Beaver River, and were antici-
pating the arrival of the railway, which would enable them
to bring in the requisite machinery to prove or disprove
the results of their investigations on their prospects.
Another party were scouring among the mountains bor-
dering the Shuswap River, and likewise had attained a
certain measure of success, which at that time could not
be substantiated or disputed owing to lack of facilities.

The men who found the grade for the railway in this
valley experienced abnormal difficulties and faced appal-
ling perils. The only means of entering the country was
by the waterway, for the forest on either side is trackless.
There is no trail from Tete Jaune Cache to Fort George.
The Indian, with his innate knowledge of backwoods trans-
portation, did not attempt to penetrate that fearsome
aspect of tree, but took to the water, for the perils of its
canyons and rapids were insignificant in comparison with
the dangers lurking in the woods, which at present are

AN UNEXPLORED LAND 209

the home of the bear, moose, and other big game in
abundance.

When they entered the country, a journey involving
320 miles overland to Fort George, they could gain no
reliable information whatever. The only highway was the
Fraser River, and this entailed a journey of eighteen to
twenty-one days, for, owing to the turbulence of the water
and the velocity of the current, a boat has to be poled
up-stream foot by foot. There is an Indian village at Fort
George, and another at Tete Jaune Cache, but the members
of these tribes could extend no reliable details concerning
the country, for they never ventured therein for more
than a short distance in quest of game.

To meet this condition of affairs special arrangements
had to be completed. Fleets of canoes were pressed into
service, every available one being acquired, and the Siwash
Indians at Fort George were enlisted as crews, as these
Red Men, though lazy to an extreme degree, are expert
oarsmen and are acquainted fairly well with the river's
numerous pitfalls. It was a rich harvest for them, for they
demanded a daily wage of $3 — 12s. 6d. Fort George
became the base of operations, inasmuch as the cost of
freighting supplies westwards from Edmonton to Tete
Jaune Cache, a distance of about 400 miles, at 20 cents —
lOd. — per pound was prohibitive. By shipping the neces-
sities in from the south to Fort George, although an over-
land journey of 330 miles was incurred, the freightage
charges were about 50 per cent less.

For 220 miles this route comprises a magnificent high
road — so far as British Columbia highways go — having
been built in order to facilitate access to and from the
Cariboo Gold Fields, by which means Quesnel, a Hudson's
Bay Post, and now a small town, was gained. This road
was available for any ordinary class of vehicle, and to-day
carries an automobile service. Thence the journey was
over a more or less defined trail for 110 miles, to cover

210 RAPIDS

which occupied at least five days by pack-horse. Since
the railway was located the length of the Cariboo Road
journey has been reduced to 163 miles by the inauguration
of a steamboat service upon the Upper Fraser, plying be-
tween Fort George and Soda Creek, 155 miles of what was
formerly the most arduous part of the journey now being
covered expeditiously and in comfort by water.

Before the survey was undertaken camps were estab-
lished at various points along the river between Tete
Jaune Cache and Fort George, while the fleets of canoes
carried up large supplies of provisions which were cached
at convenient points. The survey camps were located
always in attractive positions, and during our descent of
the Fraser we found these abandoned camping-grounds
an undisguised boon inasmuch as they spared us infinite
labour and time in the preparation of a suitable site whereon
to spend the night. The canoes plied to and fro incessantly
during the summer, bringing in food and other require-
ments for the isolated parties engaged in locating the line,
since their carrying capacity is severely limited — 1000
pounds constitutes a heavy load for a single ungainly
craft of this description.

Owing to the vicious character of the river this task was
one beset with innumerable difficulties. Forty miles out-
side of Fort George is a furious rush of water over 9 miles
in length — the Giscombe Rapids — where the water bubbles,
froths, and speeds along at a terrific pace over a shallow
bed littered with chisel-pointed rocks. Some 60 miles be-
yond is the Grand Canyon of the Upper Fraser, which is a
veritable death-trap, where the inexpert, as well as the
dexterous water-dog, often has met his end. Even the
Indians for the most part regard it -with a certain awe,
especially during certain periods of the year, when it is
little better than a maelstrom, and wherein several mem-
bers of their tribe have met their Waterloo. The third
danger is the Goat Rapids, a little west of the Goat River,

DANGERS OF THE RIVER 211

where the river tumbles downhill very suddenly, and
where, in order to negotiate the boiling water, skilful navi-
gation is imperative to manoeuvre the boat from one side
to the other of the river in order to avoid terrible obstacles.

Going up-stream these bad stretches could only be
negotiated by dint of hard effort with the aid of a line or
towing-rope, the crew, with the exception of one, hauling
on to this frail device for all they were worth while the
occupant of the craft picked his way carefully by the aid
of his pole among the rocks. When the canoe was laden
to the water's edge with cargo this proceeding was ex-
tremely hazardous, inasmuch as the danger from swamp-
ing was always existent and could not be circumvented
except by extreme skill on the part of the man in the
boat. Accidents were numerous, and fatalities were re-
corded time after time, but such were quite unavoidable
in an enterprise of this character.

Many of these adventures teemed with excitement and
tragedy. On one occasion a laden canoe was being lined
up through the Giscombe Rapids. It was a heavy craft,
and the Indians were hauling might and main, but making
slow headway. Suddenly there was a sharp cry from the
man in the boat. The curling water had swept the pole out
of his hand, and the canoe, deprived of its guiding influence,
was swung round by the rushing water, and hurled with
terrific force against a rock. The boat split in two from end
to end, as if cleft with an axe, the rope broke, and cargo,
wreck of canoe, and Indian were thrown into the water.
The Indian was never seen again. In another instance a
party were coming up through the same rapids, and pU
were poling vigorously as the craft was otherwise un-
trammelled. But the water was running more swiftly than
the canoemen, including members of a survey party, had
estimated, and for their error of judgment they paid dearly.
The canoe was tossed against a half-submerged rock, and,
in the manner of the dug-out which is fashioned from the

212 DANGERS OF THE RFVER

brittle cotton- wood, it succumbed to the impact. In a few
moments the occupants were engaged in a desperate
struggle for their lives in the foaming water. One man was
caught by the under-tow and never reappeared, two others
failed to gain the shore and were drowned, while three
were rescued.

Upsets were of frequent occurrence, for the Indian canoe,
such as is built by the Siwashes of Fort George, is the most
treacherous and tender vehicle for water service that was
ever devised. The hull being round, the absence of a keel,
and the non-provision of gunwales — the last is unknown
to the Siwash — the boat rolls at the slightest movement on
the part of those within, and a capsize is precipitated from
a very slight cause. Hundreds of pounds of provisions were
ruined or lost through swamping. One party of engineers
were accustomed to canoe between the camp and the field
of their day's labours, for at that point the survey skirted
the river, and such locomotion was easier than tramping
over the heavy muskeg. This practice was continued until
one day the party, evidently having become so familiar
with the dangers of canoeing in a dug-out as to treat pre-
caution with contempt, had a rude awakening, for the boat
was jerked out of their hands and then rolled over. Fortu-
nately the accident happened near the bank, though the
velocity of the current plunged one and all into a terrible
struggle, with the result that the shore was gained only by
dint of great effort, while the survivors were scattered along
the bank over a mile or so, sorry but wiser specimens of
humanity, some almost on the verge of collapse from their
frantic battle with the river. Ever after that the river was
left alone severely ; the surveyors trudged to and from their
work, qn\y braving the dug-out when compulsion rendered
such a step unavoidable.

Probably the most dramatic accident was that in which
another small party was wrecked in the Giscombe Rapids.
The accident happened so suddenly that all were engaged

DANGERS OF THE RIVER 213

in a fierce fight for life before they realised that the rem-
nants of the canoe had slipped from under their feet. One
grabbed his dunnage bag and struck out boldly for the
shore. But the current was too swift for him, and as his
strokes became weaker the water dragged him down, until
at last he disappeared from sight with a final despairing
shriek. A companion who was a powerful swimmer kept
himself afloat by great effort, but after he had been carried
down-stream for over a mile he sank with startling sudden-
ness, bis body being recovered some time later at Soda
Creek, having been carried some 200 miles down the river.
One member of the party who could not swim a stroke
clutched a piece of the canoe as it split up, and clinging
desperately thereto, floated five miles down the stream.
Then he lost grip of his frail life-preserver and sank. A
fourth man who could swim, and who likewise seized a
piece of floating jetsam, to which he clung tightly, in order
to be carried beyond the confines of the rapids, ultimately
gained the bank in safety.

From the constructional point of view the 190 miles
through this valley technically offer but little difficulty ;
grading will proceed uninterruptedly at very high speed.
Indeed the engineers consider that the hardest part of their
work is completed when the line has gained Tcte Jaune
Cache. The existence of the waterway has facilitated the
supply problem. Steamboats are to be built at Soda Creek,
the boilers and machinery being hauled 163 miles overland
from Ashcroft, the nearest railway point, and at Soda Creek
will be installed in the hulls, which are to be erected on the
water-side at this point. The cost of hauling the bulky
machinery along the Cariboo Road, however, will assume a
respectable figure. Tentative inquiries in this direction
resulted in a demand of £8 per ton, the normal freightage
rate being £12 per American ton. The main bulk of the
supplies, however, will be dispatched westwards from
Edmonton over the completed line to Tete Jaune Cache,

214 AN IMPORTANT JUNCTION

and there transferred to the steamers. Camps will be es-
tablished at intervals of about two miles, and these will be
in communication with the base at Tete Jaune Cache, so
that armies of men will be poured into the valley continu-
ously. By attacking the grade at eighty or ninety different
points simultaneously, the permanent way will grow with
striking rapidity. Where the line breaks away from the
river for a considerable distance roads will have to be
driven for short distances, but such preliminary work will
not be extensive.

A couple of years from the day this section is attacked
should see Fort George in direct rail communication with
Edmonton, Winnipeg, and the east. The pioneers who
have made their way laboriously to this centre, which is
destined to become the most prominent junction of the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in British Columbia, owing
to the spur that is to be driven westwards into Vancouver,
and which will blossom into the metropolis of the inland
empire, will hail the arrival of the steel with unfeigned
delight. In their anxiety to be first in the field these
pioneers have suffered an existence of pronounced isolation
with the nearest railway station 330 miles away, and have
experienced every hardship incidental to frontier life.
Provisions and other necessities have soared to fancy prices,
for every ounce has had to be freighted in at a cost of
between $50 and $60— £10 to £12— per ton from Ashcroft.
The instant Fort George is in railway touch with the
factories of the east, the transportation rate will drop to
less than £2 per ton, and the town will go forward with an
irresistible rush.

CHAPTER XVI

THE PERILS OF SEARCHING FOR THE EASY GRADE

A LTHOUGH the line, as now located, follows the broad
Xjl. route of the Fraser River, the task of the survey
engineers through this territory was of a gigantic character,
inasmuch as every possible mountain pass had to be sur-
veyed, and had any of these been preferred to the Yellow-
head, totally different country west of the Rockies would
have had to be traversed. The toil amid the hoary caps of
this mountain range was a magnificent achievement, as has
been narrated already, but it is doubtful whether that con-
fronting the plotters working in the vast expanse of New
British Columbia was not of a more desperate nature. The
only information concerning this territory and its general
topographical features was that which had filtered through
from a few participants in the Klondyke gold rush. Some
hardy pioneers, lured north by the strike of yellow metal,
essayed to gain the new Eldorado overland from the south.
These indomitable spirits forced their way up the Cariboo
Road to the Fraser, crossed this river at Giscombe Portage
at the head of the rapids of that name, and then followed
the famous cross-country trail of nine miles, to negotiate the
divide on the opposite side of which is Summit Lake, the
headwaters of the mighty Peace River, whereby the Arctic
Ocean can be gained by water.

During our thrilling journey down the Fraser River in
crazy dug-outs, we pitched camp one night at the mouth of
the Little Smoky River, which flows into the former river
from the north. Scarcely had we raised our tents and sat

215

216 FRANK STEPHENS

to the preparation of our evening meal when we heard a
cheery hail. It was the Romany of the wild waterways,
the Fire Warden, Frank Stephens, paddling down the
tributary, which he had ascended that day for several miles
on his patrol duty, and was now returning home — if his
nightly camping-ground could be called home — on the
opposite bank. Cheered by the sight of a fellow-creature,
for it is not his lot to see many faces beyond those of his wife
and child, who travel with him, and the one or two settlers
and prospectors scattered along the silent waterway, he
paid us a visit, to learn something of what had transpired
in the outside world up to the two months before, when we
had stepped beyond the bounds of civilisation.

When we had exhausted our stock of news, which was
limited to a severe degree, we requested a return of the
compliment. But his world at that time was such a small
one, the change from the humdrum of the silent wilderness
was so slight and scanty, the empty forests afforded him
such slender topics of conversation and scraps of intelli-
gence, that he failed quickly. True, he could expatiate
at length upon the possibilities of the valley, which he
traversed from end to end along its criss-cross of waterways,
but such could be summed up briefly in the phrase that " its
potentialities in all directions of industry and commerce
defied exaggeration." Then we mentioned the railway and
that fired his conversational efforts. He had been attached
to the surveyor who was deputed to carry out the flying
survey between the western flanks of the Rockies and a line
driven roughly through Tacla and Stuart Lakes to Quesnel
— a task which had occupied the greater part of three years,
involving complete immersion in the wilderness for the
major part of that time, entailing strenuous fights against
the unknown, privations inconceivable, and perils innumer-
able.

As we sat around the blazing logs that summer evening
he treated us to two solid hours of thrilling romance in

A TRUE FRONTIERSMAN 217

connection with the plotting of this railway such as has
been paralleled but seldom in the North American conti-
nent, and which afforded us a graphic idea of the formidable
task the forbidding country offered the surveyor. We
realised how heavily and continually the man in charge of
the reconnaissance, working in a territory aggregating
several thousand square miles, scarred by very few trails
indeed, and where evidences of humanity were so few and
far between as to appear non-existent, was " thrown up
against it," as the breaking down of difficulty is described
picturesquely in western frontier vernacular.

Frank Stephens was associated with the flying survey,
because, being a man of the woods, hardened, like steel, to
privation and exposure, he was an ideal associate for the
man with the transit and level. Invariably they tramped
about alone, and for the most part trod absolutely virgin
country. It was a hard life, but, to a man of Stephens's
calibre and experience, possessed that atmosphere of ad-
venture and excitement in which the true frontiersman
revels, while his resource and ingenuity, when they were
trapped in a tight corner, stood him in magnificent stead.

As he remarked himself while he related his adventures,
" no one was more surprised than I was that we came out
alive, or, at any rate, without bearing more evidences of
the hard knocks that we received in the prison of trees.

"At times we barely made five miles a day. Trails were
denied us, for no Indian had ever ventured there. When we
had penetrated the heart of the forest progress was so slight
that we scarcely observed it. The dead-fall was madden-
ing; it quite drove the windfall I had encountered pre-
viously into the trivial. The trees had dropped in all direc-
tions in this great primeval forest, for year after year, and.
Judging from the character and extent of the windfall, I
should imagine that four times as many trees lay piled and
rotting on the ground as were towering around us. To
make matters worse, we could not hack our way through

218 LURKING DEATH-TRAPS

the tangled wooden barrier, for the trunks were far too
great in diameter — huge Douglas firs piled up to a height
of 12 and 16 feet.

" Climbing was extremely dangerous. It was not as if
you could scramble up one side of the obstruction and
descend on the other, for when you got to the uppermost
log the trees were scattered and criss-crossed in all directions
below. One had to crawl gingerly along a monarch lying
prone, with branches twisted in all directions, keeping a
sharp look-out for snags, and securing as best one could a
firm foothold upon the precarious slippery surface barely a
few inches in width, since a fall would have been attended
by a broken limb. As it was, we were torn, scratched, and
bruised in all directions.

" Though such conditions were aggravating during the
summer, they became a thousand times more so during the
winter, for then the lurking death-traps were invisible — the
snow concealed everything. On one occasion the surveyor
and I set out together with four dogs, which carried the
whole of our supplies, reduced to the barest necessaries. We
purposely travelled lightly equipped, because we were
bound for a trying stretch of country. Time after time
that sledge was sent flying through collision with an unseen
snag, and we had to keep close to the dogs, ready to lend
them a helping hand the moment they got into difiiculty,
for the loss of an animal would have been a serious matter
to us. We were travelling on snow-shoes, with our blankets
and other personal requirements strapped to our backs, yet
slowly and with great effort, for the ground was littered
with windfall in all directions. We spoke but little, for
when on the trail under such conditions all attention has to
be focussed upon one object — the path immediately ahead.

" Suddenly I turned round to speak to my colleague, and,
to my consternation, he was nowhere to be seen. He had
vanished as completely as if the ground had swallowed him
up. I called out his name, and there came back a mufiled

Side Hill Excavation along the Skeena River

Owing 10 ihe steep character of the river bank heavy earthwork was re<iuisite to provide a path
for ihe line, 'ihe soil as removed was shot into ihe water.

The Forest as the Railway Builder found it

Owing to the denseness of the forest, and the size of the trees, clearing was a tremendous task.
In this illustration the axemen are shown stripping the land of timber on the site of the rjilway line,
5 aids, and port of Prince Rupert.

A NARROW ESCAPE 219

reply, as if proceeding from a cave beneath my feet. I looked
round, and, following his footprints, came to a deep hole in
the snow. Peering down, I saw the luckless surveyor. We
were travelling over snow that had drifted and piled up over
the windfall, and he had trodden upon a place where the
crust was thin, and which had collapsed under his feet. It
was a serious fall, too, for the hole was about 16 feet deep.
I inquired anxiously if he were hurt, and gave a sigh of
relief when I learned he had not been more than bruised
and shaken in his unexpected tumble. But he could not
get out. His snow-shoes and pack hampered movements,
while the snags bristling on the fallen tree trunks rendered
his extrication perilous. However, he released his pack
and his snow-shoes, which I hauled up, and then moving
very warily, he climbed out of the hole. He looked pretty
scared when he reappeared, I can tell you.

" That surveyor, I think, was one of the most unlucky men
who ever essayed to map the path for a railway. On
another occasion, while surveying south of Fort George, he
had a very narrow escape. The Fraser was frozen hard,
and as it offered the best highway, he followed it. He was
going through the canyon when suddenly there was a fierce
yell, and he was seen to slip through the ice. We thought it
was all up with him, but with remarkable presence of mind,
as he sank he shot his arms out horizontally on either side
over the ice, so as to gain a support and to keep his head
and shoulders above water. He was pulled out half frozen,
for being midwinter, the water was terribly cold. It seems
that he had been going along on the surface of the snow,
and had stumbled on a wide crack in the ice, which, being
covered with a semi-frozen slush — the most treacherous
covering on frozen water — it had simply given way under
his weight. He had not seen the danger, because the slush
was covered with a thin film of perfect snow, which gave
no indication whatever of the danger below. Had he not
thrown out his arms he would assuredly have gone under,

220 OVERTAKEN BY SNOW

and his surveying career would have been brought to an
abrupt conclusion."

This surveyor made no less than three journeys into the
wild, inhospitable country north of the Fraser, in the
search for the grade, his starting-point being Giscombe
Portage, which was the natural place from which to com-
mence such operations, as it marks the "height of land"
between the Fraser River and the Peace River water-
sheds. During one summer he pushed his way eastwards
from this point unaccompanied. His object was to find
the best route between the Wapiti, Pine River, and Peace
River Passes and Fort George respectively, since, as it
was uncertain which way the line would come through the
Rockies, a practicable highway via each respective pass
was requisite. On one of these expeditions he failed to
make good time while moving through the country, with
the result that he was overtaken by snow while far up on
the Salmon River, which flows from the north into the
Fraser. It was a terrible predicament, for the surveyor's
equipment was for summer travelling only, which, when
the snow settles on the scene, is worse than useless. To
aggravate matters his food supplies gave out on his home-
ward struggle. For three weeks he subsisted on nothing
but ground-hogs, a kind of guinea-pig, which he caught as
best he could. When at last he came in he looked an
emaciated human wreck worn out by privation.

Stephens had his narrow escapes also during this exact-
ing work, though in his true backwoods manner he made
light of them, since he had issued scatheless from the dan-
gers. Still he admitted that his adventure in the Giscombe
Rapids was a " holy terror," and made his hair stand on
end for some time afterwards. It happened in this way.
He was making his way up-stream, was being towed in the
usual manner, steadying himself, and guiding his craft
meanwhile by the aid of the pole. The canoe had all but
gained the top when there was a sudden vicious lurch, and

A THRILLING ADVENTURE 221

his crazy craft shot backwards from under him, to the
accompaniment of an ominous singing. It threw him off
his feet, but luckily he tumbled into the boat, and when he
regained his senses, he found himself swinging along
merrily, stern first, through the rapids, the canoe bouncing
like a cork, and swinging from one side to the other,
grazing wicked rocks as it was caught up by contrary
currents in its mad career.

To attempt to arrest the boat would have been madness,
and certainly would have ended in complete disaster, so he
sat still, clinging tightly to the sides of his craft, as it
rocked violently, expecting each succeeding moment to be
his last. For three miles the boat danced precariously, and
rushed along, dodging grim obstacles, as if steered by a
mysterious force, then the waters easing up a trifle, he dug
his pole sharply into the river-bed, regained control of the
canoe, and punted leisurely into the bank, pretty well
scared out of his wits, as he himself declared. What had
happened ? Why, the rope towing the canoe had been
sawn asunder upon the sharp edge of a rock, and the canoe
had been thrown contemptuously into the rapids, to be
the sport of the waters.

Desperate though his situation was in the rapids,
Stephens regarded two episodes that occurred on the
survey as the most exciting and narrowest escapes in his
career. The survey party was at work on the Salmon
River on the preliminary line. It was midwinter, and the
thermometer hovered about 40 degrees below zero.

" One day a message came that we were to strike camp
and to return to Fort George immediately. The journey
was distinctly uninviting, for the weather was terrible, the
country being swept time after time by blizzards, and
under such conditions a trek of 100 miles was no light
undertaking. Still, there was the official command, and
there was no alternative but to obey. Our outlook was
rendered blacker from the fact that we had very little food.

222 A BLACK OUTLOOK

and, in fact, we debated whether there was a sufficiency to
carry us over the 100 miles. Still, by eking it out and
living on strictly short rations, we considered that we
could just contrive to make the journey on what we
possessed, while there was the remote possibility of some
success falling to our rifles.

" The party set to work striking camp and loading the
sleighs. Special care was observed in packing the precious
instruments, so that they might not be injured in any
probable mishap. Owing to the condition of the snow, the
extreme litter of windfall, and the load, we had to become
beasts of burden ourselves in hauling some of the sleighs,
because there were not sufficient dogs for the purpose.
Thus we set off. But the going proved worse than our
most gloomy forebodings had pictured. The snow was
soft, the dead-fall was strewn promiscuously and thickly
in all directions, and more than once we stumbled into a
pitfall, which enforced considerable delay. It was a rack-
ing, difficult journey. The men, weakened by insufficient
food, toiled along mechanically, as if in a dream, blinded
by snow, torn by the cold, and more than one afflicted with
frost-bite. The rations sank lower and lower, and as we
were yet a considerable distance from our destination, we
had visions of making the last stretch on empty stomachs.

" At last the survey or-in-charge called a halt. In order
to ease the situation of some of the party, who were giving
signs of the fatiguing strain, he ordered the sleighs to be
lightened of all articles that could be spared. The more
hardened of us regarded this proceeding with gloomy
feelings, as an expedition sinks to low straits when it be-
comes necessary to abandon some of the impedimenta.
Still, the weaker ones hailed it with relief as the loads they
were called upon to haul were lightened appreciably. True,
we were drawing nearer and nearer to Fort George,
but our pace was so slow that the distance appeared
not 100, but 1000 miles. Every day reduced our sup-

A FAMISHING PARTY 223

plies of food very visibly, and the plight of some of the
party began to occasion the chief considerable anxiety.
Articles were abandoned more extensively with every
succeeding day, and finally even the sleighs were discarded.
The trail for the last 10 or 15 miles out of Fort George pre-
sented a sorry sight. It recalled the overland trek to the
Klondyke in the days of the gold rush, when the trail
north of Edmonton was littered with abandoned neces-
saries of all descriptions. Still, we clung to the transit and
level, and it was a half-famished, tottering little party that
drew into Fort George, the majority more dead than alive
from want of food and fatigue, though they soon revived
when in camp once more with a variety of nourishing food
in plenty.

" But I think the worse experience was when I was out
with the surveyor-in-chief on the reconnaissance in the
depths of winter. We had four dogs and a couple of sleighs
not heavily laden. We carried our own sleeping-bags on
our backs. Somehow or other, owing to the blinding snow,
we were delayed and lost our way. But it was no use be-
moaning our ill-luck. That does not help you one iota in
the unfathomable wilderness of snow. The dogs had to go
without food, and we ourselves did not taste a bite for two
and a half days. Nor did we catch sight of the smallest
specimen of game either. We were both becoming faint
and dead-beat, with that awful desire to sleep, caused by
the extreme cold, crawling over us, against which we fought
desperately. We struggled along, hoping against hope,
stumbling over concealed dead-fall, and knocking and
bruising ourselves against obstacles which, had we been in
the pink of condition, we should have seen and avoided.
We stumbled rather than walked on our snow-shoes. One
thing after another was thrown off the sleighs, to ease the
plight of the dogs, which had grown so thin from want of
food that their ribs projected through their skins.

" It was the third morning we had struck the trail with-

224 A BAD EXPERIENCE

out breakfast. As we rolled out of our sleeping-bags the
surveyor, faint from want of sleep, which hunger had
effectually driven away, listlessly adjusted his snow-shoes.

" ' Say, nothing but hot water for breakfast again this
morning, Frank,' he remarked, with a forced laugh.

" ' Guess not ! But we shall not lose time by having to
discuss one,' I rejoined. So we set off once more on the
dreary day's round. Shortly afterwards we came to the
conclusion that we could travel more quickly if the sleighs
were emptied, so there and then we threw away everything
except our bedding. This proceeding spurred us on a bit.
Presently I descried in the snow the faint footprints of a
jack-rabbit. It was the first sign of game and a possibility
of something to eat which we had seen for three days, and
I decided to stalk that rabbit, come what may. I drew
my companion's attention to the footprints.

" ' Now you stop here and light a fire. We'll have
something to eat this morning, or I won't come back again,'
I cried excitedly as I grabbed my gun.

" I sped off with my eyes glued to those scarcely dis-
cernible footprints, never losing sight of the spoor for an
instant, in case my eyes played me false. But it was
weary tracking ; that trail was as elusive a will-o'-the-wisp
as one could find in the forest. For three solid hours I
followed it relentlessly, stumbling and falling wildly,
bruising my shins and tearing my hands in my mad
scramble to maintain my feet as I plunged through the
bush. At last it disappeared into a willow shrub. Crawling
up warily, I searched the thicket, and there spied the
quarry I had been pursuing so diligently. Fearful that in
my excitement I might take too hurried an aim with my
rifle, miss, frighten, and lose the animal, I crawled steadily
forward on my hands and knees. When within arm's
reach I made a sudden spring and caught it by the scruff of
the neck. In a trice it was dead and lifeless. But it was a
sorry prize. Like ourselves, it was in sore need of food, for

A BAD EXPERIENCE 225

it could obtain but slender sustenance from the snow-
covered ground. Still, it was something with which to
alleviate the pangs of hunger.

" I retraced my footsteps as hurriedly as I could, and in
due time the yelping of dogs told me my toil was well-nigh
over. As I burst on to the spot I observed the surveyor
sitting before the fire holding his head in his hands between
his knees, and rocking himself to and fro. He was the
most abject picture of misery and despair that I have ever
seen. When I showed him the result of my hunt he
brightened up, but his face immediately dropped.

" ' What's the good of it ? We haven't any cooking
utensils ! ' he muttered lugubriously. We had discarded
them that very morning.

" ' Well, I guess I'd sooner have the food and no utensils,
than plenty of cooking vessels and no food,' I replied, as I
skinned the precious rabbit. In a few minutes it was
spitting merrily on an improvised roasting-jack. The skin
I cut into four equal quarters, and distributed among the
four dogs. They devoured it ravenously. Not an atom of
that rabbit was wasted. While the chief regaled himself
with the generally accepted edible portion of the animal, I
cleaned the entrails and roasted them for myself. We did
not know how long we should have to go before we made
such a feast as this again. What was not eaten was care-
fully packed away on the resumption of our journey. That
little bit of food put new life into us, and although the
surveyor pressed me to share his portion, I declined. I was
more accustomed to the woods and its hard knocks than
he was."

Such affords a graphic idea of the pains and penalties
that were incurred by the decision to thread this silent,
unpopulated country by the iron road ; to break its solitude
once and for all ; to wrest it from inaccessibility and pri-
mevalism, so that it might blossom as the rose.

CHAPTER XVII

OPENING UP THE LAST WILDERNESS

AT Fort George the railway parts company with the
-i^ Fraser River. The waterway describes a sharp
right-angled curve to flow almost due south on its way
to the coast to swell the waters of the Pacific at Van-
couver. On the other hand, the objective of the railway
is Prince Rupert to the north-west, and which lies 550
miles]^north of Vancouver.

Ultimately Fort George will mark a " parting of the
ways," from the railway's point of view, since commercial
exigencies are demanding that the interior of British
Columbia shall be rendered readily and easily accessible
from the ports on Puget Sound. On the southerly run
to Vancouver the railway surveys have indicated the
feasibility of a line with grades and curves comparing
favourably with those upon the other sections of this
great trans-Canadian steel highway. This is an advantage
which it is difficult to realise from mere mention, seeing
that Vancouver is well served with railways connecting
more or less directly with the Atlantic sea-board, but it
was forced upon me very impressively while I was within
the boundaries of the embryonic capital of New British
Columbia.

Our camp was pitched beside the Fraser River under
the shadow of the century-old Hudson's Bay Post, and at
eventide we were visited by one of the Grand Trunk
Pacific surveyors. His arrival had thrown the little colony
of three hundred people into a frenzy of excitement : his

226

EXCITEMENT 227

appearance with a full party of assistants all equipped
ready for the front constituted the sole topic of conversa-
tion. What was his object ? Where was he going ? Was
a new line to the south under contemplation ? Specula-
tion was exceedingly busy. Every member of that isolated
community cherished his own idea as to the reason of this
surveyor springing suddenly into their midst. Three hun-
dred people planned three hundred different railway lines
out of Fort George. From conversation with the in-
habitants a stranger would have gained the impression
that the country was to be criss-crossed in all directions
by an elaborate network of railways.

They spared no effort to satisfy their curiosity. When
they met him in the streets he was bombarded with ques-
tions, and his camp, although some three miles out of the
town, was not safe from invasion. But he was as silent
as the Sphinx. He could not, or rather would not, gratify
their thirst for information. He was not aware, so he said,
that he was to start off on another survey expedition. He
simply had been told by the engineer-in-chief in Winnipeg
to proceed to Fort George, and to hold himself in readiness
pending instructions. One morning the townsfolk awoke
to find the little camp had disappeared — whither they did
not know definitely.

One can scarcely realise in such a country as this how
greedily a small settlement struggling along in the heart
of the wilderness, 330 miles from the nearest railway
station, seizes any straw that is likely to redound to the
benefit and the improvement of their lot. Any tit-bit of
information concerning railways is grasped feverishly, and
in the course of discussion and conversation becomes
magnified to an unrecognisable degree. One townsman
related to me how he had seen such and such a survey
party some miles west of the town busily at work. They
were out for the Canadian Pacific. Another resident re-
lated a similar story, only he had noticed the party in

228 EXCITEMENT

another quarter of the country, and they were working
for the Hill interests. A third citizen had a similar story
to relate, but in his case the surveyors were engaged at an
entirely different point of the compass from the other two,
and they were in the employ of a third railway group, and
so on. One imagined that all the railways of North
America were racing northwards to Fort George and the
wonderful country stretching to the north. As a matter
of fact, each individual had seen the selfsame survey
party, but on different days and in different localities, for
the revising surveyor runs through the country speedily.
Still, the intense interest served to illustrate how significant
a part the iron road plays in a new country on the dawn
of development.

A few months later the surveyor I met at Fort George
emerged from the wilderness at Vancouver ; the original
location has been revised and improved, and there is no
use in disguising the fact that the Grand Trunk Pacific is
going to provide another startling sensation — it is going
to give Vancouver a faster and easier route to the wheat-
lands of the prairie and the great industrial centres of the
east. Whereas other railways have to struggle laboriously
with grades varying from 116 to 237 feet per mile, the new
line is going to have nothing heavier than 52 feet per mile.
Traffic to and from Vancouver hitherto has followed cer-
tain channels because no alternative easier path was avail-
able, but the day is dawning when, in response to the
demand for the annihilation of time and distance, a bold
bid for supremacy is to be made.

Fort George will become the railway clearing centre of
the interior ; that is, if the Indians can be persuaded to
assist in the march of civilisation and progress. But the
red men have a grudge against the white men. When the
first railway was built across Canada the natives were
forced unceremoniously to leave the land along its route.
As a quid pro quo they were given permission to roam and

INDIANS AND THE RAILWAY 229

settle just where they desired in the interior. The Indians
tacitly accepted the inevitable, and the Government of
twenty-five years ago considered they had completed a
remarkable coup d'etat, for the land farther north was of
no value. At least, such was their opinion. But latter-day
events have shown that the Indians secured the best of
the bargain. They were permitted to become rooted upon
the finest stretches of land in the whole of the province.
The interior is nothing but one huge garden, where an
equable climate prevails and where Nature has bestowed
everything for the practice of agriculture upon the most
successful scale with lavish profusion.

Little wonder, therefore, that the Indians did not con-
test their usurpation very spiritedly. They knew the
north country from their trapping and hunting expedi-
tions. They have acquired all the choicest area of land,
from the arable standpoint, and when this country opens
up in grim earnest the authorities will be faced with a
pretty problem. The short-sighted policy of a quarter of
a century ago is bearing its fruits now : the enterprising
spirits holding the reins of government to-day, and having
the general welfare of the whole country at heart, are en-
gaged in the unravelling of the skeins which their forbears
of the nineteenth century tangled in their sublime ignor-
ance.

A striking example of this state of affairs has been
offered at Fort George. The railway required a site for
its imposing junction. There was only one spot available
— a flat tableland approximating 1000 acres, in the angle
formed by the confluence of the Nechaco and Fraser
Rivers. It is about 20 feet above the level of the river
and perfectly level — in short, it formed an ideal situation.
But the Indians were in occupation, and they defied re-
moval. The authorities coaxed and cajoled with the chiefs
for more than two years, offering tempting sums of money
and the allocation of other land as compensation. But

230 DIFFICULT BARGAINING

in negotiations of this character the cunning of the red
man is inscrutable, and masterly skill and tact is demanded
to prevent him obtaining a bargain too overwhelmingly
in his favour. Two or three times the subject was on the
verge of settlement to mutual satisfaction, when, just as
everything was ready for the attestation of the documents,
an obscure issue was thrust to the front and brought
matters to a standstill. At the time of my visit the canny
chiefs were taking a firm stand. The monetary compen-
sation was equitable, and the offer of removal of the whole
village, lock, stock, and barrel, to another location was
fair, so they said. What, then, was the obstacle ? Oh !
there was a cemetery in the reservation, and the Indians
vehemently opposed the disturbance of their dead. Any-
one who has seen a Siwash cemetery will appreciate the
joke of this objection. The graves had never occupied a
moment's thought hitherto, as its weed-overgrown, tum-
bled, and neglected condition testified. But it was a
powerful lever with which to gain time and to prise the
authorities, possible of adjustment, no doubt, by an in-
crease in the financial consideration, unless in the interim
other issues became manifested.

The same difficulty has prevailed throughout the length
of New Caledonia traversed by the Grand Trunk Pacific.
A score of years ago the Indians thought but very little
of their property. Now that the railway is approaching
within measurable distance the land has soared to a value
equal to that in the heart of a good-sized town.

Yet it is doubtful whether the greater majority of these
natives have any conception of what a railway is. The
older members of the tribe have heard so much about the
invasion of their territory by the iron horse — its advent
has been heralded so many times during their lives — that
they regarded the subject with stoical indifference. When
I discussed the project with the Siwash chief at Stony
Creek he gave a broad grin. " Me heard tha' story when

A RICH LAND 231

me youn' — when me lik' tha' " — pointing to a little toddler
of three years — " bu' me no see railway yet. Me nev'r
shall."

The line strikes due west from Fort George, following
the winding course of the Nechaco River. The permanent
way for the most part is located on the bench-land that
fringes this waterway, which in days long distant evidently
occupied the whole of the depression through which it
meanders. The land for the most part is covered with
scrub which can be cleared easily, and which, when this is
accomplished, reveals soil of marvellous fertility. The sub-
soil is clay or gravel, but it is covered with a layer of silt
and decomposed vegetation varying from 4 to 28 feet in
depth. Level country, however, is encountered but
seldom, and then only in small areas. It is broken up by
low hills which assume a north-to-south direction. In fact,
it might be described best as the Weald of Kent reproduced
upon a gigantic scale, for the general configuration is very
similar, while the conditions are analogous.

The soil, from the character of its composition, is suited
to the practice of every branch of agriculture. The vales
are ideal for the raising of vegetable produce, the flatter
areas to the production of grain, while the higher ridges
are adapted to hay, which in its wild condition grows with
striking luxuriance, and averages from 1^ to 2 tons per
acre. The wealth in this direction is considerable, as is
proved by a glance at the rough-and-ready stacks on the
Indians' reservations and the homesteads of the few
settlers who have forced their way into the country.

The true future of this great territory lies in diversified
farming. The man who selects New British Columbia as
his home in preference to the prairie will reap an envious
reward in a few years. Unlike his colleague on the wheat-
land, he will not place all his eggs in one basket — if one
crop fails the abundance of another will make ample
amends. On the prairie there is no such compensation.

232 DIVERSIFIED FARMING

If the grain should happen to fail, then disaster would
stare the homesteader in the face ; there would be no
escape. But when the farmer is raising a little of every-
thing from fruit to stock, vegetables to poultry, a complete
failure is scarcely possible. This is the reason why to-day
British Columbia is making such a strong appeal to the
true farming instinct.

Moreover, the natural conditions indicate that diversified
farming should be practised. The whole of this territory
will be self-supporting. When the country has become
settled by the completion of the railway there will be no
need to send a single ounce of produce east of the Rockies,
or west of the Cascades. Again, though this agricultural
belt is of tremendous area, it will never be able to meet the
entire local demands. In the mountainous area fringing
the Skeena River is a vast mineral storehouse. Com-
mercial minerals of all descriptions are being found in
abundance. Consequently mining towns, settlements, and
villages will spring up on every side. These will demand
food-stuffs, and naturally they will draw upon the sources
of supply which are immediately available, for the produce
will be fresher, in better condition, and cheaper than that
which has to be brought over a long railway haul. This
is the reason why the land throughout the Nechaco,
Endako, and Bulkley Valleys, as well as that around the
Frangois, Ootsa, and Stuart Lakes, is being bought up so
feverishly.

The advance of the line, the stories of striking wealth,
and the resources of the country traversed have fired
speculators to a frenzied degree. Ten years ago you could
buy the choicest of this land at about 50 cents — 2s. — per
acre ; to-day you cannot buy it for less than from $30 to
$60, or £6 to £12, per acre. The railway has precipitated
a land boom which is one of the most notable in the annals
of Canadian history. Where a decade ago you would toil
along for day after day without seeing a human face

A LAND BOOM 233

beyond that of an Indian, and would not catch a gUmpse of
development on the land outside the reservations, to-day
there are evidences of great activity in land improvement
on every side. As we wended our way over 320 miles of
trail forest fires raging on every hand indicated settlement,
for the new arrivals were burning off the scrub, while
stakes, indicating the acquisition of stretches of land,
appeared with the regularity and monotony of milestones.
The country is undergoing a marvellous transformation,
and with a remarkable rapidity in the bargain.

Leaving the Nechaco River at Fort Fraser, the line
skirts the southern bank of Fraser Lake and the Hudson's
Bay Post to enter the Endako Valley, which is a continua-
tion of the fertile conditions prevailing in the Nechaco
Valley. In due course it traverses the bench-land lining
the eastern shores of Bums and Decker Lakes. Then it
has to commence its first serious though easy climb upon
the 230 miles between Fort George and Aldermere, because
a low ridge, the Bulkley Summit, strikes at right angles
across the location. The ascent, however, is so gradual
that the official requirements regarding grade are fulfilled
without any effort.

Indeed, the country rises very gradually from Fort
George northwards to this ridge. At the former point the
grade is at an elevation of 1880 feet. It makes an easy
ascent through the Nechaco Valley to Fort Fraser, which
is at an altitude of 2230 feet, the rise in the first 100 miles
only aggregating 350 feet. From the Hudson's Bay out-
post, looking northwards, the Bulkley Summit ridge is
plainly visible about 100 miles distant, and at the point
where the line enters the Bulkley Valley, at the confluence
of the Morice and Bulkley Rivers, the altitude is 2366 feet.
Then there is a descent for some 60 miles to Aldermere.
Thus it will be seen that the country throughout the 230
miles is of a give-and-take character, the line undulating
in the form of a gentle switchback.

234 THE INDIANS AND SURVEYORS

The Indians evinced extreme interest in the survey of
the line through their territory. Some who were employed
for menial duties with the parties related vividly dramatic
experiences with the men equipped with the transit and
level upon return to their villages. The instruments and
operations of the chain-men and rod-men puzzled them
greatly, and many were the jokes they bandied between
themselves concerning the methodical movements of these
members of the party. But the phase which afforded them
infinite delight and provoked extreme amusement was the
assiduity with which the surveyors sought to make their
way round the hills. This was absolutely beyond their
comprehension. When I was at Stony Creek, although
the location had been completed some two years or so
before, they had not ceased joking about the surveyors' in-
dustry in this direction. ^-NTiile I was conversing with one
of the Siwashes who had been associated with a survey
party he gave vent to repeated grim chuckles. Unable to
realise the source of his amusement, I finally inquired why
his risible faculties were so provoked. He gave a broad
grin, and then spluttered : " Whi'e man, he dam silly
fool ! 'E no go ov'r 'ill lik' Indian, dat quick'r ; but 'e
go roun', dat muc' slow'r ! "

When Aldermere is gained the mountainous country is
entered. The outer flanks of the Cascades loom up, and
the massive humps crowd so closely together that there is
scarcely space for the iron road. The Babine range
thrusts its slopes so sharply forwards to meet the coast
range that emergence from the valley to Hazelton is
through a narrow defile extending for about 14 miles, until
the Skeena is gained. The bottom of this gorge is occupied
by the Bulkley River, and the water tumbles along in a
series of rapids and falls. The banks run up sharply from
the water's edge, and at places are sheer, giving the rift,
through which the river makes its way, the appearance of
an immense crack in the earth's surface. The rocky sides

TUNNELLING 235

of the canyons are cut so cleanly as to present the appear-
ance of having been cut by cyclopean chisels.

Under these conditions the engineers found it a difficult
matter to plan an easy grade. Here and there the line is
poised from 100 to 200 feet above the foaming river hurry-
ing to join the Skeena. At intervals there is nothing but a
narrow ledge, which has been cleared of trees and debris
to allow the waggon road and railway to run side by side.
The vehicular highway, however, has but indifferent re-
spect for grades, and falls continually as Hazelton is
approached. The railway, on the other hand, holding to
its gradient, rises higher and higher up the mountain-side,
and the side hill work in this district is as heavy, if not
heavier, than that encountered in the wildest parts of the
Rockies. So tightly do the opposing ranges press together
finally that no possible surface outlet from the valley was
found feasible for the railway. As a result, it became
necessary to drive a tunnel through a massive shoulder.
The original survey showed 4000 feet of subterranean work,
but indefatigable revision has enabled the length of the
tunnel to be reduced to about 2000 feet. In its revised
form, however, the tunnel ranks as the longest on the
whole of the 3543 miles stretching from ocean to ocean.
Bearing in mind the magnitude of the undertaking, this is
a surprising result, but when the enterprise was projected
the surveyors were urged to reduce tunnelling operations
to the minimum, for these works are not only proverbially
expensive and demand considerable time to accomplish,
but are far from being popular with travellers.

According to original intentions the line, when it reached
Aldermere, instead of bearing sharply to the north and
gaining the Skeena River at Hazelton, was located almost
due west, emerging from the Cascade range at the mouth
of the Copper River, 100 miles distant from Prince Rupert.
A natural pathway was offered, as the route followed first
the course of the Tel-kwa River, and then clung to the

236 HAZELTON

Copper River to its confluence with the Skeena. But as
the hne follows the north bank of the Skeena River in
order to enter Prince Rupert, a massive steel bridge would
have been necessary to carry the track across this water-
way from the mouth of the Copper River. This location
held out the distinct advantage of reducing the mileage
between Aldermere and Prince Rupert from 246 to 166
miles — a saving of 80 miles — which was no slight con-
sideration from the capital expenditure and capitalisation
points of view, bearing in mind the heavy cost of building
a railway in such forbidding country.

However, the Government authorities demanded that
the Skeena River should be gained at Hazelton, the head-
waters of navigation on that waterway, and an important
Hudson's Bay Post. By so doing the valuable mineral and
agricultural country lying around Hazelton, especially to
the north and east thereof, would be rendered more acces-
sible, both from the coast and from the south. In time
the strategical and traffic advantage of this move will be-
come more apparent than it is to-day. North of Hazelton
extends a highly fertile, wide depression — the Kispiox
Valley, in which over 100,000 acres of excellent arable land
are available — stretching into the Yukon territory. The
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway has received the charter for
the construction of a branch line to Dawson City, there
linking up with the Alaskan railway system now in course
of completion, and the obvious route of this spur lies
through the above valley, with a point near Hazelton con-
stituting the natural junction with the main line.

It must be borne in mind also that the Grand Trunk
Pacific undoubtedly will construct a second line to the
coast running in a north-westerly direction from Edson,
threading the Peace River Pass and the wonderful arable
belt of 10,000,000 acres that is opening up so rapidly along
that waterway. In that event connection with the exist-
ing line will be effected near Hazelton. At the same time.

ii JS O

a o
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C6 3__0

z -an

O >> "J

COAL 237

however, exigencies, no doubt, will demand the adoption
of the cut-off via the Copper River, for 80 miles represent
no mean saving in through coast-to-coast traffic. Such a
line will become essential if the coal-field which has been
discovered among the mountains in this region, and which
is in close proximity to the original location, proves worthy
of development. Should this fulfil anticipations — these
coal deposits are estimated to exceed in extent the bitu-
minous coal area of the United States — it would play an
important part in the future development of the northern
stretches of British Columbia, more particularly owing to
the extensive areas of other minerals that there abound.

The present location, north of Aldermere, traverses a
continuous mineral belt where extensive discoveries of
copper, silver, lead, gold, and so forth have been made.
Many are merely prospects at present owing to the diffi-
culty of introducing the requisite machinery, but the com-
pletion of the line will enable the commercial value to be
determined within a short time. Certain it is, however,
that three camps within easy reach of the railway will be-
come permanent mining settlements — the Silver Cup,
Twelve Mile Camp, and Four Mile Camp respectively —
while west of Hazelton is Nine Mile Mountain, which is a
mass of mineral.

There is no shadow of doubt but that for the whole 600
miles between Tete Jaune Cache and Hazelton the railway
traverses a country the possibilities of which are quite be-
yond realisation. However, the surprising activity among
the pioneering settlers in the agricultural areas augurs well
for the success of that ramification of human endeavour,
as my personal investigations established conclusively,
while the army of prospectors in the immediately con-
tiguous mineral country, the variety and extent of their
prizes of ore, and their buoyant optimism presages a rosy
future for the mining industry.

CHAPTER XVIII

LIFE IN THE RAILWAY CAMPS

IF one wishes to see the rough Hfe in the wilderness at
its best one must visit, live, and move in a railway
camp. It is a strange, albeit fascinating, little colony.
There is an atmosphere of devil-may-care on every hand,
such as is met with in no other phase of human existence.
The grader is a personality of himself, a desperately hard
worker, who revels in the open air, enjoys toiling far
beyond the limits of civilisation, and who makes money
plentifully. The days when such centres of activity were
hot-beds of lawlessness, crime, and gambling have
vanished for ever so far as Canada is concerned. A modern
railway camp in the heart of the wilds has a social level
and a moral code superior to what may be found in many
thriving towns, as I found from experience. The work is
exacting, for the task of laying the thin thread of steel is
beset with dangers innumerable. That, however, is the ele-
ment which above all exercises such a bewitching glamour.
One looks in vain for the gin-palace, gambling-saloon, and
other sinks of iniquity ; searches in vain for the human
vultures who thirty years ago used to prey upon the un-
sophisticated wielders of the pick and shovel, for the pro-
fessional grader, though a rough diamond, is as simple in
the ways of the world as a child, and certainly has no idea
of the value of money. Legislation has stamped out such
plague-spots as relentlessly as hygiene and medicine have
mitigated the ravages of disease in the camps. The men,
instead of being the outcasts of society, dragged down to
the lowest depths, and seeking sanctuary in the wilds,
where no questions are asked, and where there is no

238

THE WORKERS 2S9

probing into private affairs or the past, have developed
into thriving, industrious settlers. The Golden Calf
may be worshipped, but that is a failing which cannot
be overcome, for it permeates the whole community of the
twentieth century — it is the one obsession of to-day.

Yet the railway camp has lost none of its peculiarly
picturesque characteristics. The men are just as rough,
brusque, and abrupt as ever. There is nothing of the velvet
glove, for the contest with Nature is too grim and stem.
They have a rough idea of hospitality, but it is sincere. If
one happens to visit the camp, he is not permitted to con-
tinue his journey without inquiries being made as to his
well-being. Has he had a meal ? If not, he must partake
of one straight away. They follow a happy-go-lucky
existence. They carry their lives in their hands, incur
extreme risks in their haste to fashion the grade, bite their
lips determinedly when confronted with eternity, and
laugh mockingly when they glide safely by the looming
portal. It is a life of " luck " ; a daily juggle with Fate.

Nor has the camp lost its cosmopolitan character. If
anything, it is more so to-day than it ever was. Every type
of nationality will be met with along the grade. A little
colony may represent as many as ten, fifteen, or twenty dif-
ferent tongues, from Russian to Hindoo, from British to
Slav, from Scandinavian to Turk. Yet there is no misunder-
standing, no hesitation or confusion. Each man has his
allotted task to perform, and he goes his way oblivious of
all external influences.

Now and again there is a hitch, conflicting interests
clash, and sometimes resort is made to force to settle the
dispute. Then the rest of the colony gather around to
enforce fair play, for no underhand tricks are permitted.
The time was when heated words in a railway camp soon
provoked a revolver-shot, but nothing more formidable
than fists are allowed to-day, and the canons of fair play
are administered with austere severity. Occasionally I saw

240 PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CAMP

tempers aroused quickly, and words lead to blows, but no
more harm than a severe pommelling with fists was in-
flicted. The combatant who stooped to mean advantage
would have received terrible punishment from his as-
sembled comrades.

But it must not be imagined that a camp is a scene of
such disorder. Far from it. Peace generally prevails, but
when seventy, one hundred, or possibly two hundred men
are thrown together, for month after month, to live like a
huge family, it would be a strange coterie indeed if disputes
did not arise occasionally.

A camp offers golden opportunities for the psychologist.
The general opinion of the navvy as he is seen at home is
totally different from his counterpart as I saw him along
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway right-of-way. Every
calling had its representative. There was one finely built,
brilliant, enterprising, well-cultured young fellow I met at
the entrance to the Rockies. He would have looked more
appropriate in immaculate white starch and a sombre
morning suit at work in a stockbroker's office, than he ap-
peared in muddy, torn, and patched khaki trousers, a
brown flannel shirt open from the neck to the waist, and
top-boots trundling a wheelbarrow through the muskeg.
Piqued by curiosity, I asked why he had penetrated to such
incongruous surroundings. His reply was frank, curt, and
to the point — " To make money ! I should have starved
as a clerk in London. Here I am earning a steady four
shillings a day clear, delighting in braving the extremities
of heat and cold, defying Fate, and having a general good
time in the purest open air."

It must be admitted that, from whatever point of view
the lot of the grader is surveyed, it is far and away superior
to that prevailing among workmen at home. They live
healthier, brighter, and happier lives, while the wages are
regular and steady. East of the Rockies unskilled labour
receives on the average $2 — 8s. 4d. — per day. If a man is

WAGES 241

skilled in some branch of railway engineering his wages are
proportionately higher, according to his ability. For
instance, a timekeeper receives $75 — £15 — per month
inclusive. In other words, this sum represented the amount
he could save every month, the only essential deductions
being expenses for such trivial luxuries as tobacco and
articles of clothing which he might require. From the
daily wage the navvy had to deduct 75 cents, or 3s., for
meals, and $1, or 4s., per month as his subscription to the
medical department, which secured him highly skilled
attention and care in the hospital, and ample quantities
of medicine from the dispensary, if incapacitated by
accident or illness. Therefore a man could rely upon
saving about $25, or £5, per month, since he was deprived
of all opportunities to waste his wages, unless he gambled
among his colleagues.

The ease with which money has been earned and saved,
however, has exercised a retarding effect to a certain extent.
A man arriving at the camp with empty pockets has found
himself possessed of a small nest-egg at the end of &ix
months. Perhaps he has never had such a sum in his
possession before in his life. Instead of staying on the
grade, he has improved his position with this capital by
acquiring a homestead — the railway has set him firmly on
the road to become a prosperous farmer. So far as the
camps east of the Rockies were concerned, the effect of this
constant coming and going was not reflected upon the pro-
gress of the work to a pronounced degree, as strangers
anxious to secure a start in their new life in a new country
poured into the camps every day to take the places of those
who retired from the grade. But on the Skeena River
section it exercised a decidedly adverse influence. It was
not so easy and simple a matter for labourers to gain the
Pacific Coast, while very few of them possessed the where-
withal for the steam passage over the 550 miles northwards
from Vancouver. Then, when they did reach the grade, the

242 SHORTAGE OF LABOUR

approach of spring offered so many openings to earn higher
wages in various other channels that they left the line.
During the year 1910 the shortage of labour assumed
serious proportions. The development of Alaska, the
extreme activity in mining circles around Hazelton, the
Babine Mountains, and Aldermere, where the men could
command from $4 to $5, or 16s. 8d. to 21s., per day, lured
them from the railway camps. The contractors raised the
wages to $3, or 12s. 6d., per day, and even at that figure
could not attract sufficient unskilled labour.

The head of the contracting firm responsible for the com-
pletion of 240 miles along this river expressed his prepara-
tion to take on 5000 men, if they presented themselves at
Prince Rupert. He made desperate efforts to attract men
to the spot. Labour was recruited in these islands, and
passages were paid to the camps. Upon arrival the men
settled down to work, but in the course of a few weeks they
drifted to all parts of the Dominion, attracted by more
enticing openings for the sweat of their brow. On one
occasion a whole boat-load of men were shipped north from
Seattle to Prince Rupert. Not one of that consignment of
labourers ever reached the grade. As they disembarked
from the vessel at Prince Rupert other ramifications of
industry, pushed just as hard for labour, absorbed every
man at a higher wage than he would have received on the
railway. It was only during the winter, when other oppor-
tunities were closed by snow and ice, that a sufficiency of
men could be secured tp carry the work forward with an
appreciable speed, for then it was the only employment
available.

So far as the social conditions are concerned the grader
has no cause for complaint among the Grand Trunk Pacific
camps. Here the lot of the workmen has been lifted to a
far higher level than has ever prevailed before in connection
with railway constructional operations on the North
American Continent. The substantial character of the log

A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH 243

shacks has been described already. In winter they are
wonderfully cosy and warm. In the bunk-house the
sleeping quarters are ranged in two tiers on either side of
a longitudinal passage, the berths being disposed like those
on board a steamship, with spruce boughs for mattresses.
One sub-contractor went even further to render his men
comfortable. Single iron beds with mattresses were in-
stalled, and a man was deputed to look after the graders,
whose sole duty was to keep the couches in trim condition,
and to provide the men with hot water for a wash and
brush up when the day's work was done. The mess shack
is likewise a roomy building, replete with what comforts
the bush will permit. The cook has a commodious kitchen
with outhouse attached, while within convenient distance
is the cache, in which the nine months' supply of pro-
visions is stored.

The sanitary arrangements are such that the possibility
of the drinking water becoming contaminated is reduced to
the minimum. This precaution has been responsible for
the strikingly clean bill of health that has prevailed among
the 50,000 men scattered along the grade between Moncton
and Prince Rupert. Epidemics, such as decimated railway
camps in the early days, are now almost unknown, and,
even should contagion appear through the carelessness or
ignorance of the navvies — a danger that is ever present
among the workmen hailing from the unsavoury quarters
of Europe — the medical department within easy distance
is able to cope with the malady and to stamp it out before
it secures a firm foothold.

If there is one point more than another that tends to
maintain harmony and satisfaction in a camp it is the
skill and accomplishments of the cook. The contractors
display unremitting care in this direction, for experience
has taught them that to feed a man adequately and well
is to offer more than complete compensation for the lone-
liness of his situation. An indifferent cook will precipitate

244 AN IMPORTANT OFFICE

discontent sooner than anything else. By means of an
attractive wage, ranging from $60 to $75 — £12 to £15 —
per month, with all found — on the Skeena River the wages
averaged $100, or £20, per month — first-class men skilled
in the mysteries of the culinary art, so far as it affects these
rough men, were secured. Many young fellows whom I
encountered presiding over the camp-kitchen along the
grade could offer a more varied, appetising, and better pre-
pared assortment of nourishing dishes by means of the di-
minutive cooking-stove, stoked with wood and the barest of
utensils, than the chef of a first-class hotel, surrounded by
every device ingenuity could contrive to facilitate his task.

Yet the position of the cook is trying. The tastes of
these graders are peculiar. But they have one gastronomic
failing — that is " pie." A cook who can make delicate
pastry and is a master at " pie," no matter of what de-
scription, whether it be mince, pineapple, raisin, apricot,
or what not, will be forgiven his lack of skill in preparing
other dishes. To the western grader " pie " is the dream
of existence, and when the men find they have secured a
jewel of a pastry-cook they spare no effort to keep him in
an affable mood.

To my surprise I found that a large number of these
backwoods chefs were young English fellows. At home
their roving dispositions, which would not permit them to
settle down to humdrum existences, had caused them to
be classed as " ne'er-do-wells." But they were far from
being ranked in this category in their new environment.
They revelled in the life, for the wage and freedom made
strong appeal to their natures. Having no appearances
or social positions to maintain, they save money easily,
while there is ample recreation and diversion in the pursuit
of game when the day's duties are completed. One camp
cook I met had amassed a huge collection of bear-skins,
moose-heads, and other trophies of the forest which had
fallen to his rifle, and he was consigning them home. From

THE DAILY ROUND 245

conversation with his comrades I learned that their acqui-
sition had developed into a perfect mania, and he had
experienced adventures in the quest of fur which would
have been the delight of a big-game hunter.

The daily round in the camp is somewhat monotonous,
but this cannot be avoided, bearing in mind the prevailing
conditions. The cook is astir at five o'clock in the morning,
and is faced at once with the preparation of the matutinal
meal. About six o'clock he tears the workmen rudely
from their bunks by vigorously clanging a ponderous steel
triangle. The men tumble out hurriedly, and the bank of
the creek in a few minutes is the scene of great animation
as the morning ablutions are being performed. There is
no etiquette at the backwoods dining-table, so the men
hurry one after the other into the mess shack, their faces
aglow under the combined action of soap and towel fric-
tion. Each man helps himself, and there is no limitation.
In a large camp silence at table is an unwritten law. This
custom is requisite inasmuch as the cook is the sole waiter,
and were boisterous conversation permitted he could not
possibly hear and attend to the men when they requested
this, that, or something else. Nor is there any waiting
for sluggards. If a man desires an extra ten minutes in
bed, he runs the risk of losing his breakfast, for the cook
is the Autocrat of the Table, and, like time and tides, waits
for no man. When he clangs his gong the meal is ready,
and the first arrivals fare best.

The meal is such as few workmen at home ever discuss
once in their lives. The variety is infinite and everything
is in plenty. The first course comprises porridge, followed
by grilled bacon, pork, and haricot beans, cold ham, tinned
meats and other condiments, with hot bread and butter,
jams, cakes, and other little dishes, with the irrepressible
" pie " occupying a prominent position. Each man ap-
pears to possess a huge hotch-potch before him, for the
rule is one man one plate, and that of enamel. The cook

246 DINNER

has quite enough to do without being harassed by a huge
pile of plates and platters to wash up after every meal.
The meal is accompanied with coffee and tea, not raw, but
flavoured with milk and sugar.

By seven o'clock the men have departed to the scenes
of their labours. The cook snatches a little respite, par-
takes of his breakfast somewhat leisurely and in solitary
state, for meal-time is a busy rush with him. But he
cannot dally long, as the midday meal has to be prepared.
The hooter of one of the engines blaring out twelve o'clock
precipitates a spirited rush towards the mess shack. The
men come in as hungry as hunters. Bowls of steaming
soup disappear with astonishing rapidity, and then the
main dish of the meal is attacked in decided earnest.
Here, again, there is variety to meet different tastes. One
can revel in juicy steaks of fresh meat, cold meat, bacon,
corned beef, with potatoes baked and boiled, tinned peas,
beans, Indian corn, or other vegetables. Even fresh fish
is often available to those who prefer it. Then come the
sweets, ranging from pies of all descriptions to milk pud-
dings and stewed fruits. Or one can have cakes and jam,
crackers and cheese with pickles, rendered more appetising
by the aid of such condiments as tomato catsup. Salads
are available occasionally. For liquid refreshment there
is tea and coffee, or if something cold is preferred, then
lime-juice can be obtained. The consumption of this
cordial is astonishing, but it serves to protect the men
from the ravages of scurvy, which is a serious menace,
seeing that they are necessarily heavy meat -eaters. Ac-
cording to their own statements, a man could not toil so
heavily and so continuously were he not able to secure
large supplies of meat in various forms, and from experi-
ence I must admit candidly that to attempt such labour on
a vegetarian diet is to court physical disablement. Meat
appears to be the only article of food which can supply the
requisite stamina for so many hours on end.

FOOD-STUFFS 247

^Seeing that the men are buried in the wilds so far away
from the busy cities, they must be dependent to a very
great extent upon tinned comestibles. Such can with-
stand the rigours of transport, while also they preserve
their original excellence almost indefinitely, the loss from
storage and inclement climatic conditions being reduced
to an infinitesimal degree. The perfection of canning and
preserving science has changed the life in a railway camp
completely. It has enabled food-stuffs to be brought
within reach of the humble navvy which formerly were
quite impossible. Shredded dried canned potatoes are
even obtainable to-day, and are used in place of the fresh
article in the outermost camps. The contractors, however,
always secure fresh foods if such are available, and this
demand has been welcomed by the pioneer homesteaders
who have had the courage to penetrate the wilds in antici-
pation of the railway.

While I was at Aldermere a Chinaman broke into a
frenzy of delight at a stroke of good fortune. The pur-
chasing agent of the railway had been searching the
country for supplies of fresh potatoes. This indefatigable
Oriental had been expecting such a move, and had raised
seven tons of tubers accordingly. The purchasing agent
was willing to acquire the whole consignment, and they
haggled for over an hour about the price. The Chinaman
wanted so much per ton, but the agent, armed with figures
which indicated the price at which the potatoes could be
brought into the country from Vancouver, was adamant.
The upshot was that the wily Celestial parted with his
produce at $100 — £20 — per ton, and over the transaction
had made sufficient profit to enable him to buy his settle-
ment of 160 acres outright.

Fresh meat is one article of diet for which the graders
hunger. At first sight it might be considered as impracti-
cable to gratify this desire, but the contractors rose to the
occasion. If the country traversed could yield anything

248 FRESH MEAT

in this connection it was purchased, but if not, then
animals were shipped by rail to the end of steel, and from
that point they were driven to the various camps and
there slaughtered.

On the Skeena River section this problem assumed grave
proportions. The cost of bringing the carcases by water
from Vancouver to Prince Rupert, and thence distributing
them along 240 miles of grade, was abnormally high. So
they conceived another plan. A contract was made with
a cattle-raiser in Southern British Columbia to drive large
herds overland to a point about one mile below Hazelton.
It was a daring undertaking, for it involved a " drive " of
420 to 700 miles through thick bush country. As an ex-
periment 600 cattle were driven across the province, and
the journey occupied about twenty-five days, the cattle
grazing as they proceeded. Upon arrival at the destina-
tion they were turned loose, to be coralled for slaughter as
required. A large modern abattoir was erected, and the
carcases were then shipped down the river to various
points where small cold-storage depots were established,
and from which the camps were served.

The experiment was found so successful that a further
contract was signed with the cattle man, whereby he under-
took to deliver 5000 animals in the same manner during
the summer of 1911. Owing to the beasts being driven
across country at a leisurely pace, and being able to obtain
fodder in the form of luxuriant vetches and grasses in
abundance as they ambled along, or when they stopped
for the midday meals and night camps, the meat was
found to be of excellent quality, as the animals arrived in
the primest condition.

The last meal of the day is discussed at six o'clock in
the evening. It is similar in character and extent to the
midday repast. Then the men while away the rest of the
evening according to individual inclinations. Some in-
dulge in fishing, for the streams, rivers, and creeks teem

SUNDAY 249

with rainbow and bulldog trout, pike, and even salmon,
which are to be caught readily, and thereby the menu is
varied appreciably. Others cultivate small patches around
the shacks if the soil is suitable, raising vegetables for the
table, lettuce and onions being the most popular delicacies.
Some extend the cook a helping hand by splitting sufficient
cordwood for his fire during the following day. Games
serve to pass an hour or two away, while reading among
the more cultured members is a popular recreation, but,
unfortunately, there is a dearth of reading material. The
phonograph has proved an excellent diversion : there is
scarcely a camp which does not possess at least one talking
machine. In this manner the time flies rapidly until nine
o'clock, when the greater majority of the men retire to
their bunks.

Such is the round day after day for six days in the week.
On Sunday there is a complete cessation of work, and the
time is passed either in hunting, fishing, by visits to neigh-
bouring camps, or in some profitable occupation. Some
of the men devote the day to the performance of essential
domestic duties, sufficient for the ensuing week, the trees
around the shacks becoming involved in a network of lines
carrying laundry of all descriptions. Occasionally a peri-
patetic " man in the frock " will appear on the scene,
and though he seems strangely out of place in such an
environment, yet he is certain to secure a fair hearing.
Indeed, the majority of these missionaries who travel up
and down the grade receive a warm welcome, for they have
become accustomed to the graders and their peculiar ways.
After a little informal Gospel chat, in which the speaker
takes care to clothe his main idea in a manner acceptable
to his auditors, the whole party invariably gather round
and indulge in the exchange of reminiscences and adven-
tures along the grade, for the grader is a born raconteur
and has a wealthy store of anecdote.
[ The various institutions, such as the Young Men's

250 VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS

Christian Association, the Salvation Army, and the
Navvies' Mission, have done yeoman service in improving
the social conditions in the camps. Through their instru-
mentality magazines and books are circulated to gratify
the desires of those who wish to read ; a vigorous educa-
tional campaign is maintained among the illiterate, while
the foreign element is taught English. Though the main
aim of their operations may be described as " Christian-
ising," it is accomplished in such a diplomatic manner that
the men do not resent the efforts of these organisations.
If there is one thing more than another which the grader
detests it is out-and-out preaching. To attempt such is to
meet with gibe and joke, while words fall on deaf ears.
These graders live in a world of their own, and they have
no desire to venture beyond its confines. But if the mission
of faith is prosecuted carefully it meets with considerable
success. The men show their appreciation of this work
and the self-denial of those engaged in the improvement
of their interests in a practical manner, and woe betide a
colleague if he forgets to contribute his mite.

How successful such missionary effort can be made was
demonstrated conclusively along the Skeena River. Here
the liquor at first was a potent disturbing element, for,
given the opportunity, the average grader will waste every
penny of his hard-earned substance in riotous living —
" amusement," he calls it. Though Canada has a rigorous
liquor law which prohibits the sale of any intoxicants
within a certain area of a public work, such as railway
construction, yet at places it is impossible to enforce this
enactment without pressing harshly upon other members
of the community. It was the case on the Skeena River.
The line was located near Essington, which had come into
existence years before, because it became the centre of the
salmon-fishing industry. Being a law-abiding little town,
licences had been granted before the Grand Trunk Pacific
Railway was ever contemplated. To have withdrawn the

SUCCESSFUL MISSIONARY EFFORT 251

licences or enforced a period of abstemiousness to enable
the railway to pass would have damaged legitimate
traders, and would have been resented by the inhabitants.

The contractors were placed in a quandary. Directly
the graders received the cheques for their month's wages
they trooped off to Essington to have them cashed at the
saloons. They not only cashed the paper there, but squan-
dered the whole of its financial value in drink, and did not
reappear on the grade for several days. To make matters
worse, lawless members of the community, who always
hang on the flanks of a railway constructional army,
hurried up from the States. According to the prognostica-
tions of these parasitic worthies, the good old times were
coming back in regard to railway camps at Essington, and
snares of every possible description to lure the workmen
into despicable dens to rob them of every cent they pos-
sessed sprang up on every side.

To combat these disturbing influences the Y.M.C.A.
consummated a crowning achievement. Their forces were
in charge of one of the oldest missionary campaigners in
North America, who had fought the human vultures tooth
and nail in the great railway camps of the United States.
He was no idle preacher, but an aggressive militant. By
means of various counter-attractions he induced the men
to stay in the camps on Sundays, the day they generally
selected for an excursion to Essington, and even waylaid
the men as they received their wages, and offered to take
care of their money or to cash their cheques if such was
desired. Only the more hardened and reckless spirits de-
clined his proffered help, but they were in such a minority
that the sycophants of Essington became disgusted with
the fruits of their ill-famed traffic, and left the district
breathing threats of vengeance upon the Y.M.C.A. The
leader of the latter became so popular, for he could keep
the graders fascinated with his exciting adventures on the
grade, that his meetings were always crowded. His

252 SUMMARY JUSTICE

breeziness and humour fascinated the men, and even the
habitual lovers of a carouse in time abandoned their visits
to the saloon town.

When the railway had advanced beyond Essington some
of the liquor-spiders, driven to desperation, resorted to
subterfuge to trick the men of their money. As the
graders would not come to the town to spend their wages
in alcohol they would take the drink to the camps. But
in so doing they came within reach of the stern arm of the
law. Still, they considered the risk well worth incurring.
They carried bottles of poisonous whisky, and peddled it
out in insidious small quantities at fictitious prices. But
the foremen of the gangs soon observed that their men
were suffering from the effects of alcohol, and directly the
ruse was detected the whisky peddlers received very short
shrift. They were stripped of their bottles, which were
smashed, and in some cases even the graders themselves
took the law into their own hands and gave the illicit
vendor a sound drubbing, with the intimation that if he
were caught in the neighbourhood again he would run the
risk of being thrown into the Skeena River. The vigilance
of the foremen and others became so acute that whisky-
peddling became too dangerous an occupation, the vendors
shrank from the risk of being caught, and in a short time
the traffic died out.

The Prohibition Law is one of the wisest and most bene-
ficial Acts of legislation that the Canadian Government
ever has brought into force. It has purged the camps
virtually of vice and crime. Although some 50,000 men
were scattered along the grade, and despite the fact that
the men were drawn from every corner of the globe, and
even included the scum of the earth, lawlessness was prac-
tically unknown. Liquor was recognised as the most
disintegrating and inflammable factor among these camps,
and so it has been stamped out rigorously. Not a dram
of intoxicant is permitted to enter a camp, and no new

THE PROHIBITION LAW 253

town is extended a liquor licence, so long as it is within a
certain distance of any railway constructional work. This
fact has become noised far and wide, and consequently
many of the graders when proceeding to a camp have a
final indulgence on the way. If they arrive at the camp
under the influence of liquor, as a rule they are placed
under restraint and thereby deprived of the chance to
create disorder. True, it must be admitted that a large
number of the men lead a sober, steady life from " lack of
opportunity," but that was the main reason which im-
pelled the passing of the Act.

But prohibition legislation has given birth to a new
calling — the smuggling of liquor and the fabrication of
vile intoxicating concoctions from doubtful materials by
individuals who are ever ready to trade upon and profit
by the weaknesses of their fellow-men. So far as Western
Canada is concerned, the North-West Mounted Police is
able to cope with this evil. A couple of these Riders of
the Plains will keep 400 miles of the grade clear of liquor,
for they represent the law in an autocratic manner. They
know the class of men who indulge in this nefarious traffic,
and directly they hear that the clandestine distiller and
smuggler is busy in a certain district they will spare no
effort in scouring the neighbourhood and treating him
according to his deserts. Seeing that these officials may
have to ride hard for 100 miles or more to investigate a
suspected instance of liquor traffic, they leave no stone
unturned to discover the culprit and his iniquitous machi-
nery, which is smashed to pieces, while the offender is fined
heavily on the spot. Should he prove an old offender,
then he is escorted to prison, and if other than a Canadian
he runs the risk of ultimate exile. The Mounted Police is
the Nemesis of the illicit liquor-vendor, and the intimation
that one of their number is approaching is sufficient,
generally speaking, to cause the evil-doer to hie to pastures
new with the utmost speed he can command.

CHAPTER XIX

THE " STATION-MAN "

ORDINARY labour, however, has its limitations.
The workman toils for ten or eleven hours per day,
week in and week out, for month after month at the same
daily wage. He can estimate just how much he will be
worth in six months' time, for the scale never fluctuates
in the slightest, unless the elements supervene and compel
periodical cessation. When this occurs the grader loses
the sterling value of that period of enforced inactivity,
just the same as a labourer in any other field of industry
where payment is made upon the time scale. The adver-
sity of the elements is one factor against which the con-
tractor is powerless, though it must be pointed out that
the weather must become intolerably unpropitious to
bring railway-building to a standstill. Its influences are
experienced most acutely in the rock cuts, where the
powder and fuses are apt to become damp, and the safety
of the men is liable to become seriously jeopardised by
miss-fires, or through shots hanging fire.

Yet the labourer need not remain a mere navvy. It
rests with him if he shall be a mere cog in the complex
machine that drives the grade forward, earning a clear
dollar per day. He can improve his position, and possibly
lay the foundations of a successful career, if he feels dis-
posed to display a little initiative and determination, and
is not awed by the prospect of having to work hard and
continuously through all the days of daylight. In short,
he can become a station-man : can blossom out as his

254

THE STATION-MAN 255

own master uiDon a limited scale. In such a case the pro-
portions of his monetary reward are governed entirely by
the extent of his own industry and capacity.

The station-man is a peculiar feature of American rail-
way-building operations, and has proved so successful as
to become regarded as an institution. Some might de-
scribe him as a sub-contractor, but he is not, though, if
successful, he develops thereinto within a short time. He
requires but a few pounds capital with which to commence
operations, and he need not be apprehensive concerning
the wherewithal for the purchase of plant and material.
The chief contractor is prepared to equip him with every
requirement essential to the completion of his task, even
to food. When the work is finished the contractor merely
deducts his advances in kind and material from the sum
due to the station-man, and the balance which the latter
receives represents clear net profit.

As already mentioned, the locating engineer indicates
the route of the line by means of wooden stakes planted
uniformly 100 feet apart. Each of these divisions, or units,
represents a " station " ; in other words, it outlines a
certain amount of excavation or filling that has to be
carried out, the extent of which is shown in the survey
and which varies obviously according to the country tra-
versed. The station-man undertakes to take over 100 feet,
or perhaps two, three, or more such units, to complete the
grade thereon in conformity with the specifications, and
to hand it over to the contractor ready for ballasting.
The latter, when he receives it, has nothing further to do.

The station-man works upon a yardage basis — that is to
say, he receives a certain sum per cubic yard of earth re-
moved. Now, the contractor builds the line upon the same
basis, so he secures his profit in the difference between
what he receives and what he pays the station-man. The
price paid to the latter varies according to the classification
of the material in which he is working. East of the Rocky

256 THE STATION-MAN

Mountains the price was about 22 to 24 cents — lid. to Is. —
per cubic yard for " common," such as gravel, clay, and
so forth, which could be handled easily by the simplest
tools, and 35 cents, or Is. 5|d., for loose rock. In regard
to solid rock this presented a totally different aspect, as
this excavation had to be carried out by highly skilled
men, together with more or less extensive plant, so that
the scale of payment therefore was high.

It is " common " and loose rock classifications of ex-
cavation that the average station-man undertakes to
handle, because his expenditure thereon for plant or the
hire of same is reduced to the minimum, while a station
can be completed comparatively quickly. For the first-
named a barrow, shovels, picks, crowbars, and one or two
planks suffice, and these can be rented very cheaply, while
if bought outright they do not constitute a very heavy
outlay. Of course, the material as excavated may have
to be hauled some distance, in which event a narrow-gauge
tramway, cars, and horses will be required. But the
average station-man arriving on the scene with only a
little money in his pocket will concentrate his initial
energies upon the easiest units so as to secure a foothold.
If that proves profitable then he launches out, assuming
heavier and heavier responsibilities as he progresses in a
measure commensurate with his success. Possibly on the
first undertaking two or three men will co-operate on a
station, sharing the profits equally between them.

There is one distinct advantage about this system.
There is a direct incentive to work hard and long. Profit-
able success is dependent entirely upon the celerity with
which the unit of grade can be completed, and this in turn
means the more work that can be crowded into a day
the higher the reward. It is no uncommon circumstance
for a man to be able to earn as much as $10, or £2, per
day at station work, and as his expenses are very small
the week's effort shows a high return.

SURVEYOK^i MoXi.NG CaMI' A.M'JNw THE MOUNTAIN^

The rivers and lakes constitute the easiest highways for travel in the unknown west,
where roads do not exist and horses are unavailable. Huge rafts are formed of dead
trees lashed or pinned together with wooden pegs, which the men load with their
clothes, provisions, and other goods.

"Station Men" at Work

The line is pegged out in units of loo feet, each of which is called a "station." The workmen,
either co-operatively or individually, undertake to complete a section upon a kind of piecework
system. They live a dog's life, work from fourteen to eighteen hours a day, but earn from ^3 to {,\-i
per week.

FOREIGN WORKMEN 257

This system appeals to the foreign workmen, especially
to the Galicians and Hungarians. These men, accustomed
to small wages and the poorest of living for long hours of
hard work in their own country, can make large profits
out of a station, which to the average British labourer
would show the slenderest margin, if any at all. They are
particularly at home on the " common," no matter how
uninviting the task may be, such as, for instance, excava-
ting to a depth of 10 or 12 feet through slimy muskeg.

When they first assume the responsibility of building
100 feet of grade they live a pitiable existence. They sub-
sist on the plainest and cheapest of food, invariably pork
and beans, thereby cutting down their living expenses to
the irreducible minimum compatible with keeping body
and soul together. Yet as workers they cannot be equalled.
Their knowledge of English is confined to but a few words,
so if they work on a time scale their hours of enforced
leisure are a misery, as they can neither converse nor
understand their colleagues. Under such conditions time
hangs heavily on their hands, and they would be far happier
at work in the cut or on the fill with the shovel and wheel-
barrow.

I passed an interval with one of these station-men. He
was a new arrival with capital comprising one month's
wages at day labour, and he cut his expenses to a very
low level. His home was a small wooden shack barely
eight feet square, and was noisome to an extreme degree.
His entire wardrobe consisted of a pair of tattered nether
garments and a discoloured, mud-stained flannel vest,
while his feet, from which socks were absent, were encased
in a pair of heavy boots. He was up with the sun in the
morning, and four o'clock saw him slaving away as if for
dear life. It was a monotonous round ; his shovel swung
regularly to and fro until the wheelbarrow was loaded,
then there was a short run up a narrow plank, a dexterous
tilt, and the vehicle was discharged ; then he ran quickly

258 FOREIGN WORKMEN

back with it to the site of excavation, and the cycle of
operations was repeated. He made no pause for meals,
but hurriedly swallowed some of the pork and beans, an
ample supply of which he carried in a tin pail. They were
devoured while cold, because they would have taken more
precious time to eat had they been hot ! He kept himself
glued to his task until the shades of evening had fallen
and the gathering mantle of night prevented him from
seeing more than a yard before him. He was making
between £10 and £12 a week clear at this slavery, and yet
he was as happy in his own little world as if he were revel-
ling in the lap of luxury.

Sunday, which had to be regarded as a day of rest, was
spent in performing what little washing met his limited
needs, and the preparation of a supply of food almost
sufficient for the whole of the following week. Upon the
completion of these duties he indulged in a good sound
sleep to make amends for the brief rest he had taken
during the six previous nights. No visitor disturbed him
on his station, unless a stranger like myself appeared.
The only other face he saw was the resident engineer or
one of his staff who visited the station every day to
inspect the work and to check the extent of the excava-
tion.

It is not surprising that these men make money quickly,
and that in the course of a few months they are able to
undertake either larger undertakings or to shake the dust
of the grade from their feet and to settle down upon a
homestead. The great majority of these Slav station-men
work industriously on the grade for six months, and devote
the remaining months of the year to the fulfilment of the
legal requirements on the free farms. In this way they
earn sufficient on the railway to keep them on the farm
for an equal period of time, and then are able to show a
respectable sum on the right side of the year's balance-
sheet. At the end of three years they hold undisputed

WORKING IN ROCK 259

title over 160 acres of arable land, can point to a good
stock of implements, a small balance at the bank, and
some cattle — all made out of the grade. The most remark-
able feature about these men is that although they deny
themselves every luxury and comfort in their early strug-
gling days, once they have become established on the
ladder of success they fly to the opposite extreme and
demand the best and most expensive of everything.

The loose rock is taken in hand generally by a superior
class of station-men, but invariably men who have risen
as it were from the ranks. This work for the most part
is a trifle more expensive, as it demands a certain quantity
of plant, especially in regard to haulage facilities. They
can hire these, however, at a reasonable figure from the
contractor. Also, they cannot accomplish the work single-
handed, so must employ labour, and for the wages of the
latter they must possess a certain capital. There is one
salient characteristic with regard to this system. A man
may embark upon a station, and for some reason or other
meet with financial disaster. This is a common occurrence
when working in rock. Becoming bankrupt, it may be
considered that his labourers have but a slender chance of
receiving their wages. But here the chief contractor comes
in. He is always indebted to the station-man for a certain
sum of money as payment for completed work, and from
this balance the men working for a daily wage under the
defaulting employer are paid.

Moreover, the men are not thrown out of employment.
When a station-man fails the contractor steps in and
keeps the gang going. Even should there be no balance
due to the station-man, Mr. J. W. Stewart informed me
that his firm made an invariable practice of meeting the
wages bill of all defaulting station-men working under
their banner. This is a wise policy, since when a large
foreign element is engaged on the task the failure to receive
wages when due at the end of the month might precipitate

260 CHECKING THE WORK

strife very readily, owing to their generally excitable tem-
perament and ignorance of bankruptcy laws.

It might be thought that such an arrangement lent itself '
to indifferent work, or over-payments in regard to station
contracts. But the system of checking and counter-
checking in vogue upon such undertakings is too intricate
to permit such a contingency arising. The contractor
checks the work performed by the station-men. The
resident engineer also carries out a similar operation on
behalf of the railway company. Two independent results
of the same task are thus obtained. If a dispute arises, and
this occurs very seldom indeed, unless some unforeseen
circumstance has developed, it is a simple matter for repre-
sentatives of the contractors and the railway company
respectively to repair to the scene in which the dispute
has arisen, there to investigate the matter on the spot, and
to re-check the whole result by independent operations
with the transit. If the resident engineer is a capable man
discrepancies in the figures cannot arise very well, unless
the work is intricate, but in no case yet has it been neces-
sary to have recourse to an arbitrator on this undertaking.

Nor can the work be scamped. The resident engineer
visits each station-man in turn nearly every day, while his
superior officers make periodical visits of inspection.
Lastly there is the resident Government engineer, repre-
senting the third party to the contract, as the Government
payment is in proportion to the cost of the work, and conse-
quently this representative takes extreme care to see that
the term " cost of construction " is kept down to the lowest
figure consistent with the specifications and first-class
workmanship.

The best type of station-man is found upon the mountain
section, especially along the Skeena River, where the grade
has been driven for mile after mile through the solid rock.
This phase of the task demands the highest skill, for the
work is tedious, expensive, and laborious. Should the

STATION-MAN SPECULATION 261

station-man's gang be deficient in skill, labour may be
wasted very easily ; more rock than is requisite may be
removed, and as the limit of " over-burden," that is, the
extra rock over and above that essentially necessary to
excavation, is reduced to the minimum, the station-man
takes care that true value is obtained for every inch of
drilling and every ounce of powder used.

The capital expenditure on this work is heavy indeed.
The drills, hauling plant, camp equipment, and such like
may represent an expenditure varying from $3000 to
$5000 — £600 to £1000— just to complete 100 feet or so of
grade. Consequently a fair amount of capital is necessary
to commence operations. Yet if the task is carried out in a
business-like manner, the net return may run into very high
figures, so that the risk is well worth incurring.

But this work finds out an incapable station-man very
quickly ; nothing will bring him more readily into the arms
of bankruptcy than 100 feet of hard rock. When the
Skeena River section was undertaken, the news of the
profits that were being made by expert rock-blasters and
drillers precipitated a station-man speculating fever.
People in all walks of life thought that building the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway through the Cascade Mountains was
a certain and short road to affluence. They thought they
had nothing to do but to hire the plant, obtain men, buy
powder, and set the gang to work, and that then they could
sit quietly by and figure in the air how much they would
be worth by the time the " station " was completed.
Butchers, bakers, hairdressers, and what not invested
their little capital and made merry in anticipation. But
their joy was short-lived : they received a rude awakening.
The first month caught several of these hair-brained
speculators short ; found them on the wrong side of the
profit-and-loss account. One after the other went under,
caught in the financial debacle. Those who escaped the
first month or two spared no effort to get out as quickly

262 THE WORKERS IN ROCK

as possible, disposing of their plant at ruinous scrap-heap
prices, so as to save a little from the ^vreckage.

But this experience which taught a salutary lesson had
its advantages. It enabled men possessed of little ready
money, but plenty of brains and aptitude for the work, to
secure a foothold, and some of these men have made small
fortunes. Probably the first 100 miles of this section was
responsible for the greatest number of speculative victims,
owing to the prevalence of wet weather, for the rainfall in
this area is tremendous, averaging about nine feet per
annum. Day after day the rain pours down almost with
tropical fury, and a rain-storm lasting several days without
cessation is no uncommon feature. Under such conditions
blasting work could not be carried forward, the drill-holes
would become filled with water, the powder became caked
and soddened and failed to explode. The men who did not
realise their business failed to appreciate the significance
of this factor, and consequently suffered the penalty of
their temerity.

Rock-work on the Skeena has been carried out for the
most part by Scandinavians, who are expert in the
economical removal of rock, and American station-men,
who from long experience among the mountain railway
enterprises in the United States were expert in the
manipulation of the drill and blasting charge. The Italian,
who is a rock-worker to the manner born, as the boring of
the great Alpine tunnels has proved overwhelmingly, has
not appeared very prominently upon the Skeena River.
The wet climate was in such contrast to the everlasting
sunshine of his native country, and wrought such havoc
with his health and constitution, that he avoided this
region. As a matter of fact, this workman has not been
very much in evidence upon the whole length of line,
though he is found in strong force farther south. The
Swede, whose homeland is a mass of rock, and who is
taught to blast and excavate this tenacious material

THE WORKERS IN ROCK 263

almost from the day he can handle a tool, and to whom the
climate is in no way strange, has accomplished tremendous
work. Scandinavians are found scattered from end to end
of the line where heavy rock cuts have been imperative. I
passed through camp after camp of these industrious, fair-
complexioned, and hardened fellows, which afforded little
glimpses of the Land of the Midnight Sun. I visited several
colonies the members of which could not speak more than
a dozen words of English, and where the foreman had to act
as interpreter. However, the men acquire the English
tongue with marvellous rapidity, and after a few months'
residence on the grade become expert linguists.

The station-man as a rule endeavours to secure the
easiest and simplest portions of the line, leaving the con-
tractor to handle those stretches offering the most per-
plexing difficulties. Yet on the whole the practice is
highly advantageous to the contractor. It offers scope for
ability, and places a premium on expedition in construction,
inasmuch as it is to the station-man's own interest to com-
plete his task with all possible speed. Personally the
contractor is indifferent whether the man fulfils his station
in four weeks or four months — it costs the same from his
point of view. On the other hand, were the stretch to be
undertaken by direct time labour procrastination would
tell a different story. It is the station-man who suffers if he
nurses his undertaking too long, though if he is too dilatory
he runs the risk of the contractor terminating the arrange-
ment and completing it himself, especially if the particular
station is in urgent request, and is delaying the completion
of so many miles of grade ahead.

The contractor also derives his margin of profit from
various contributory sources. There is first the direct
revenue representing the difference between the sum he
receives and what he pays the station-man per cubic yard,
the income derived from the hire of plant, and the profit
accruing from the sale of requisite material such as

264 A FINE PIECE OF WORK

explosives, provisions, and other incidentals, for the main
contractor acts in the capacity of universal provider to
the grade.

The fostering of the system has also resulted in the fulfil-
ment of a high class of work. On the Skeena River section
there is a short two miles of line, which adjacent station-men
informed me was the finest piece of track on the continent.
It was carried out by a small party of Scotsmen who had
acquired their knowledge of railway-building in the High-
lands according to the British standard, which is admitted
to be a stern school, demanding a high class of work. They
emigrated to the West, and when they secured a consecutive
number of stations they proceeded to turn their knowledge
to account, and to build the line in accordance with the lines
prevailing at home. What is more, they succeeded, and as
they worked upon the co-operative system, they emerged
from the task with a large balance in their favour, and with
the proud distinction of building two miles of line as good in
every particular for a new line as could be found at home,
and which was something distinctly different from what
was generally seen in America. As one Irish-American who
had been a station-man for more years than he could re-
member remarked, " Those raw Scottish lads taught the
rest of us how a grade ought to be built."

The station-man's part in the construction of the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway probably never will be appreciated.
Yet it is due to his enterprise, unflagging energy, and in-
domitable pluck that the undertaking has made such rapid
progress. Having everything to gain and little to lose,
these spirits, with an unfathomable intrepidity, rushed in
where contractors hesitated to tread. Some of the more
audacious spirits on the Trans-Continental section startled
the engineers by their daring. Instead of taking over
stations near the main field of operations, whence supplies,
material, and men could be transported easily, they took
up sections far in the heart of the wilds. They enrolled

DAUNTLESS SPIRIT 265

their crews or secured kindred spirits to co-operate, and
plunged forwards boldly. The cost of freighting in was tre-
mendous, for there was scarcely a waggon road over which
to pass to and fro. But these reckless worthies were not
daunted. They cut a rough highway without any waste of
time, and by dint of frantic effort and tremendous en-
deavour were able to start work. What was more to the
point, they completed their self-imposed tasks to their own
financial satisfaction. How they netted their profits, con-
sidering the heavy preliminary expenses they incurred,
passes human comprehension

One of the resident engineers on the Trans-Continental
division related how more than once he had endeavoured
to dissuade a station-man from embarking upon an ap-
parently impossible proposition, but had been consigned
promptly to a warm climate and told to mind his own
business. The little colony was isolated ; scarcely a word
was heard of it. Yet in due course the station-man re-
appeared. His section was finished, and he flourished his
balance-sheet and received his profit, anything up to
$2000 or $3000— from £400 to £600— as a reward for the
sweat of his brow and his audacity. The fact that the
station-man and his colleagues must have toiled like
Trojans once they got on to the ground, and thus had
compensated for the heavy outlay necessary to commence
operations, was only too apparent from the financial result.
These dauntless individuals stop at nothing ; they take
long chances ; their faith in luck is implicit. If they fail,
well, they simply keep quiet for a short time until another
favourable opportunity develops, when, in response to the
urging of the mania with which they are smitten, they make
another plunge. But the fact that a station-man can
accomplish from four to six times as much work in a day
as another labourer working on the daily wage scale, offers
convincing testimony to the value of the practice.

CHAPTER XX

THROUGH THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS TO THE PACIFIC COAST

IN order to gain the Pacific sea-board from the interior
plateau of New British Columbia, some heavy con-
structional work has been requisite. The highlands are
fringed on the western side by the Cascades, which rise up
in the form of a lofty, abrupt rim, to tumble just as steeply
and brokenly into the ocean. As a result, the engineers and
graders have accomplished a monumental achievement,
which eclipses the section through the Rocky Mountains
in point of daring and resultant effect. Indeed, the stretch
of line between Prince Rupert and Kitselas Canyon, on the
Skeena River, a matter of about 100 miles, and in which the
heart of the mountain chain is traversed, is regarded as the
most marvellous piece of railway engineering among the
mountains in the whole of the North American Continent.
Not that the topographical conditions were favourable to
the engineers : far from it. On the other hand, the situation
presented a far more appalling aspect from the technical
point of view than the location through the Yellowhead Pass.
The Skeena River follows a sinuous course from the in-
terior to the sea, the channel being a wildly picturesque
gorge hemmed in on either side by lofty summits. The
rocky slopes shelve up sharply from the water's edge in a
continuous series of rolling shoulders and spurs to towering
heights, which for the most part are wreathed eternally in
snow and ice. Another adverse factor is the steepness of
the river's grade. From Hazelton to Prince Rupert is 186
miles by water, and in the course of 120 miles the river
drops about 1000 feet, rendering it one of the fastest run-
ning waterways on the coast.

266

"THE HOLE IN THE WALL" 267

Whereas the Rocky Mountains rapidly decrease in height
as the range recedes northwards from the 40th parallel, the
Cascades, on the other hand, become more tumbled, lofty,
and massed as they approach the Arctic Circle. Moreover,
they thrust their western slopes closer to the seashore, the
coast-line having a forbidding, precipitous appearance. For
instance, when travelling overland from San Francisco,
Seattle, or Vancouver, a considerable mileage through
gently rising country is traversed before the mountains
proper are entered, though their frowning white caps are
observable from the track for some time previously. Quite
a different state of affairs exists 550 miles north of Van-
couver, however. Prince Rupert, the Pacific terminal of
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, is situate on the flanks of
this range, and immediately the precincts of the station are
left the toil through the mountain barrier commences. The
solid rocky ridge towers above the waterway without a
single breach for 60 miles. Then suddenly a huge rift is
observed, and this gap has become known, with colloquial
appropriateness, as " The Hole in the Wall."

The location of the line through the Cascades was carried
out by Mr. C. C. Van Arsdoll. With Prince Rupert as the
terminal the task of finding a route to the interior table-
land was rendered extremely intricate. Indeed, there was
only one available channel through the range which he
could follow, and that was along the banks of the Skeena
River. Though the original idea reduced the traverse of
this waterway considerably, as at a point 100 miles from
the terminus the waterway would have been crossed to
gain the Copper River, yet it was this first 100 miles which
offered the most abstruse problem. When the Government
stipulated that the line should skirt Hazelton, necessitating
the Skeena River being followed for a further 86 miles, the
latter division did not increase the surveyor's task to any
material degree, inasmuch as the mountains fall back after
Kitselas Canyon is passed. From that point onwards there

268 THE ESTUARY OF THE SKEENA

is a tortuous valley extending to Hazelton, though low hills
have to be overcome with startling frequency.

The perplexing question was the location of the railway
over the first 100 miles. The problem was rendered
additionally exacting owing to Prince Rupert being on the
north bank of the river, the estuary of which, as with the
Fraser more to the south, is a huge land-locked bay several
miles across. Indeed, the river is tidal for about 60 miles,
and at tide-water it opens out very suddenly to about one
mile. Consequently, being confined to the north bank, the
most feasible location there had to be discovered.

As the mountains fall abruptly into the water, and in
many places sheer up almost perpendicularly, there was no
natural ledge or other foothold at their bases of which ad-
vantage could be taken. When the water was sounded
alongside the bank, the latter was found to continue the
mountain profile, falling down just as steeply to a great
depth, so an artificial embankment could not be built up
from a submerged ledge. On the tidal section of the river
the shore is heavily indented, some of the bays extending
back for great distances. In other places the area between
the mountain base and the main channel of the river is
studded with low-lying islands — practically mud-flats
covered with dense scrub — which at certain seasons of the
year are submerged almost entirely. When the river is low
the lower-lying stretches behind these flats form back-
waters or sloughs, swampy in character, and littered with
floating debris brought down by the raging waters when in
flood.

Under these circumstances it was impossible to follow
the contour of the shore without producing a line abounding
in sharp curves and twists, whereas the official stipulations
concerning curvature were most stringent. Nor could the
engineer strike to a higher level up the mountain-sides in
the hope of gaining a more favourable location, since the
introduction of heavy gradients would have been necessary.

AVALANCHE AND LANDSLIDE 269

inasmuch as the line at Prince Rupert is barely 20 feet
above high-water mark.

This was the outlook when the surveyor ventured into
the field with his transit and level, and the reconnaissance
only served to emphasise the stern proportions of his enter-
prise. Then the preliminary flying survey revealed another
danger. The Cascades differ from the other mountain
ranges on the American Continent in that they do not run
to sharp, needle-like peaks. The crests assume rather the
form of flat, massive humps, from which the flanks fall
away sharply. The result is that in spring the avalanche,
land- and rock-slides, constitute formidable and actively
aggressive menaces. Evidences of these sensational visita-
tions were revealed to me on every hand during my run
down the river. At places the whole side of the mountain
has slipped away bodily, leaving a bare, scarred vertical
surface of rock as cleanly cut as if with a chisel, and over
which mountain torrents thunder with terrific violence.
The tracks of the avalanches also were discernible easily,
and there was ample evidence that these perils ravaged the
mountain-sides every spring with unfailing regularity. The
tracks of such movements consequently had to be avoided
widely, which was no easy mptter, bearing in mind the con-
fined area available to the surveyor.

Although the line makes as direct a route as is practicable
between Prince Rupert and Hazelton, no inkling is afforded
of the enormous amount of work the surveyors had to
accomplish to secure the adopted location. To produce
this 186 miles involved the running of over 12,000 miles of
trial lines or surveys. In other words, approximately 65
miles of possible lines had to be carried out and investigated
thoroughly, to obtain each mile of the location. This
affords some idea of what surveying for a railway means in
such a country as this, and why the plotting process
occupied so long a period.

In regard to the surveyor's anxieties concerning the

270 RIVER STEAM-BOATS

Cascades an amusing story was related to me by G. Home
Russell, the well-known Canadian artist. He was com-
missioned to visit the Skeena River to secure canvas
glimpses of its magnificent scenery and most prominent
mountains. As little was known about the river-side and
the points where the most impressive views of mountain
grandeur could be obtained, it was suggested that he should
enlist the assistance of Mr. Van Arsdoll, who from his work
in the country could be relied upon as being thoroughly
conversant with its topographical features. Upon arrival
at Prince Rupert the artist approached the divisional
engineer, made known his quest, and sought advice. The
engineer listened attentively, and then replied quizzically :
" Well, I'd willingly help you if I could, but, to tell you the
truth, I don't know much about the mountain peaks. I've
scarcely ever noticed them. My greatest worry has been
to get round their bases ! "

Head-quarters for the survey were established at Prince
Rupert, and camps were distributed at convenient points
along the river so far as Hazelton. Communication between
the various camps was maintained by means of small,
shallow -draught, stern -wheel steamboats, burning wood
as fuel, ample supplies of which fringe either side of the
river. These vessels represented an outlay ranging between
$40,000 and $50,000— £8000 to £10,000— each, are of the
type generally found on frontier waterways, with the pilot-
house set at a high level, and in general appearance some-
what resemble a house-boat. These craft, however, differ
materially from the historic Mississippi boats, the behaviour
of which provoked President Lincoln to remark that " they
had to stop every time they blew the whistle," as there was
not enough steam for operating both machinery and syren
at the same moment, for they work at 180 pounds steam
pressure, and can attain a speed of about 14 miles an hour.
At times, however, this speed is inadequate to make pro-
gress against the current of the river, which in times of high

A TREACHEROUS WATERWAY 271

flood rushes along here and there at a speed of about
25 miles an hour.

The Skeena River is one of the most capricious, erratic,
and treacherous waterways among those flowing into the
Pacific Ocean along the North American coast. Apart
from its fiendish velocity, which in itself is a serious peril
to navigation, it fluctuates in level with astonishing
rapidity, rising and falling as much as six inches or more
in a single night. It drains an extensive mountain area
north-east of Hazelton, and is fed by melting snow. It
reaches its highest level in June, when the warmth of the
summer sun melts the snow on the mountains rapidly, and
then it is converted into a veritable mill-race from source
to estuary, rendering navigation extremely precarious. At
those points where the river attains its swiftest pace the
steamer has to " line " up. A canoe pushes off with 1200
feet of wire-cable, and poles up-stream. One end of the
cable is made fast round a thick tree, and then the little
boat drops down-stream, paying out the cable in its
descent until it gains the steamer, when the free end of the
cable is thrown aboard and passed round the steam capstan
in the bow. The capstan is set going, and the vessel hauls
itself up-stream foot by foot, assisting in the operation with
its own propellers. With the engines running at their
utmost capacity, progress is so slow as to be almost im-
perceptible, so adverse is the speed of the current. When
the river is thus in flood it occupies from five to eight days
to cover the 186 miles between Prince Rupert and Hazelton
— travel being confined to daylight — whereas the down-
river journey can be accomplished in fourteen hours !

The passing of June sees the river rising and falling in-
cessantly during the summer months, for in the higher
mountains the snow which falls overnight is melted during
the following day, this alternating movement continuing
until autumn is advanced, when, the sun becoming power-
less, the snow remains on the mountains, while the river

272 DANGEROUS SANDBANKS

persistently drops until at last it is unsafe to navigation,
owing to insufficient depth of water, for the bed is strewn
with rocks, boulders, and sand-bars. The last-named are
the obstacles most feared, for they are shifting continually
under the force of the river's current, and will even dis-
appear from one spot to reappear somewhere else in the
course of a single day. The river is most powerful in its
scouring action, and brings down immense quantities of
detritus, which is deposited here and there promiscuously.
It is the shifting character of these sandbanks that has
contributed mostly to the river's ill-fame, for it defies being
charted. The Yukon, Stickine, and Naas have achieved
evil reputations, but those waterways, as the captains of
the Skeena River boats admit, from their own personal
experience, are safer and easier to navigate, for the obstacles
retain their relative positions, except such as are formed of
floating trees, whereas the Skeena does not run alike for
two consecutive days.

The two most treacherous spots are Kitselas Canyon,
about 100 miles distant from Prince Rupert, and a stretch
of rapids known as the Hornet's Nest, near Hazelton. The
former is probably the greatest danger. The upper portal,
divided into three passages by sharp rocky ridges, has to
carry the whole volume of the river, which just above
resembles a large lake. The steamboat passage is barely
60 feet wide. The canyon is three-quarters of a mile in
length, and the declivity is awful. When the river is in
flood it is absolutely impassable, owing to the pace of the
water, which thunders through at about 30 miles an hour,
while at low water it cannot be traversed because of the
rocks, which are barely below the surface. There is a gauge
at the lower entrance, for the guidance of navigators
coming up-stream. If they cannot venture through the
canyon, they unload theu" cargo at the lower point, and it is
transferred across country by a cable-way, where it is re-
embarked upon another vessel, if one be available. To give

"LINING-UP" 273

some idea of the fierce character of this short stretch of the
river, and how the waters are crowded to make their way
through the narrow fissure formed by the rift through the
rocky walls on either side, when the gauge records a rise or
fall of 12 inches at the lower portal, the fluctuation in level
at the upper entrance is no less than 4| feet !

It is very seldom that vessels can traverse this canyon
without recourse to " lining-up," and shackles have been
driven into the rocky wall at intervals to facilitate the
attachment of the hauling cable. Even then the engineer
has to keep his steam pressure to its maximum, and the
propelling machinery is driven at its hardest, producing a
roar and screeching which is indescribable, while the
shower of sparks and smoke belched from the funnel testi-
fies to the enormous strain that is being imposed upon the
engines of the craft, which vibrates from stem to stern like
a leaf.

The descent through the canyon is even more dangerous.
The pace of the water is greater than that of the boat, even
when the river is in its quietest mood, so the captain holds
his craft in check by driving the propellers hard astern
while drifting forward, until he has cleared an awkward
bend, when he steams hard and straight ahead. But the
risk is so great that many captains will not incur it, and
consequently " line-down." They turn their boat round
and enter the canyon stern first, with the propellers re-
volving in the direction necessary to propel the vessel up-
stream. The cable is paid out slowly, so that the boat
descends gradually. As may be imagined, the strain upon
the cable is tremendous, and it groans and creaks ominously.
The greatest peril the pilot has to fear is being caught un-
awares by the raging waters, and being swung round broad-
side to the river, so that his boat becomes wedged between
the two walls, thereby damming the channel. When this
occurs the fate of the boat is sealed, for the water piling up
on the upper side pours over the deck, heels the craft over,

274 A GRUESOME REGISTER

and completes the disaster by breaking it in two. More
than one boat has been wrecked in this manner, and the
death-roll of the canyon has assumed such proportions that
the captains decline to accept the risk of carrying passen-
gers through, except when the river is exceptionally quiet,
there being a portage whereby the lower level can be
gained on foot in safety.

Even the Indians dwelling on the banks of the river — and
their quaint villages are strung in a continuous line between
the coast and Hazelton — dread its turbulence, erratic
currents, and lurking dangers. The numbers of red men,
expert canoeists, who have entered the happy hunting-
ground via drowning in the Skeena run into hundreds.
Here and there the totem poles give sad evidences of the
fact, for many have been notched to the utmost limits, each
cut commemorating a fatality in the river. There is an
Indian cemetery near the canyon on the outskirts of an
Indian village, and I was informed that one of the most
imposing totem poles is notched so thickly on either side
as to defy counting almost. An aged member of the
aboriginal community residing here has been deputed to
perform this gruesome task, and he has cut over 60 notches,
each representing a victim, during his term of responsibility.

Accidents to the boats occur with startling frequency,
and often the contractors have had their transport arrange-
ments brought to a standstill thi'ough every vessel being
hors de combat. Grounding is the most common cause of
accident, for in the rush to keep the camps well equipped,
the captains take long chances, and often endeavour to push
the heavily laden boat through stretches of the river when
the water is too shallow, and as a result of this abortive
effort have huge rents torn in the hulls. Propeller troubles
are almost of daily occurrence, for it is nothing for a boat
to lose all the paddles from one of its stern wheels against a
rock. When I came down the river three out of the five
boats were thrown out of service. We passed one vessel

ACCIDENTS 275

drawn into the river-bank where the crew were toiling
might and main to replace the paddle-blades of a stern-
wheel, which had been trying conclusions with a submerged
rock, and had fared worst in the process. Owing to the
number of accidents to the craft, the contractors have pro-
vided a slip at Prince Rupert, whence the derelicts are
towed to have any damage repaired, and it is very seldom
that the slip is not occupied. The Hornet's Nest is the
point where the captains invariably meet with accident,
especially during the month of September, when only a few
inches of water cover a veritable chevaux de frise of sharp
rocks.

River transport comes to an end in November, when the
river freezes over, and during the ensuing six months
nothing can be sent up the waterway, which is not released
from the iron grip of winter until May. The interior is cut
off from the coast during that period, the sole means of
transportation being by dog-train, which is pressed into
service for the conveyance of first-class mail.

When the contracts for construction were let the Grand
Trunk Pacific Company made it a part of the undertaking
that the vessels they had acquired and used on the water-
way should be purchased. Their experience with the
treacherous waterway had been so unfortunate that they
declined to operate them further. As means of trans-
portation were vital to the building engineers, who have
over sixty camps strung out along the river between the
coast and Hazelton, and as it was imperative that con-
struction should be undertaken simultaneously at forty or
fifty different points, the three craft were taken over and
the fleet augmented by two additional vessels. Even when
the whole flotilla is in service and the river is on its best
behaviour, it is only by Herculean effort that the needs of
the constructional army, numbering between 3000 and
5000 men, together with about 1000 teams, scattered
along the river, can be stocked adequately with supplies to

276 THE TELEGRAPH

meet demands during the six months the river is closed to
navigation.

The line does not run directly into Hazelton, but, leaving
the river about three miles below the town, strikes slightly
inland, following the course of the mountain range, skirting
Mount Hazelton and the peaks beyond, until it gains the
point where it becomes necessary to delve through the
barrier, in order to emerge into the valley leading to Alder-
mere. Hazelton is linked with the coast by means of the
telegraph, a spur having been carried from the Yukon
system to Prince Rupert, when that town was established.
This line follows a difficult course through the mountains,
but as the grade has been advanced along the river-side, the
Grand Ti*unk Pacific telegraph line has been built simul-
taneously alongside the track, and in due course will dis-
place the former Government connecting link. The con-
tractors built a telephone connecting Hazelton with their
camp at Sealey ville, three miles below, to secure connection
with the telegraph system, so that the forces at the front
could be kept in touch, when the elements so permitted,
for the storms play strange pranks and sad havoc with the
slender telegraph wire, with the base at Prince Rupert.

The investment of capital necessary to commence con-
structional operations upon this mountain section was
enormous. In the first place each of the fleet of steamboats
represented nearly §200,000, or £40,000. The camps cost
from $2000 to §6000— £400 to £1200— apiece to instal, and
as these are spaced from one to two miles apart, the out-
lay in this direction alone aggregates a large sum. Each of
these centres had to be stocked with provisions and other
supplies, and the outlay in this direction totalled over
$4,250,000, or £850,000. Consequently, before the con-
tractors were able to move a shovelful of earth, or to fire a
single blast, they had to sink considerably more than
§6,250,000, or about £1,250,000. And this for less than
200 miles of railway !

CHAPTER XXI

THE CONQUEST OF THE CASCADES

DESPITE the rugged contour of the bank of the Skeena
River which the line follows, the engineer has plotted
a route free from sharp curvature and adverse grades. The
location runs round the bases of the mountains about 20
feet above high- water mark. The indentations have been
ignored, the line striking directly across the arms of water
upon a solid rock embankment. Similarly, spurs have been
pierced where they projected into the river. Every subter-
fuge to which Nature appeared to have resorted, in order to
thwart the railway surveyor, has been broken down or
overcome.

Nature, however, has wrought her revenge. To achieve
the engineer's desires, money has had to be expended
lavishly, and he has been forced to engage in stiff, uphill
battles. For the first 60 miles it was only by the aid of
explosives that the grade could be driven forward — there is
not a foot of what is known as " surface line." The engineer
has had to trim back the mountains where they kiss the
river, hewing a narrow shelf out of the solid rock. It was
work which demanded the finest skill on the part of the
rock - drillers and blasters, for advancing through such
material forms the most expensive form of railway con-
struction, and progress was reduced to a mere crawl,
relatively speaking.

When it was realised that explosives would have to be
consumed upon an unprecedentedly heavy scale, the con-
tractors were forced to extreme measures. Everything had

277

278 AN EXPLOSIVES FACTORY

to be brought by water from Vancouver, 550 miles to the
south, and powder and dynamite are cargoes which have to
be handled with infinite care and demand compliance with
certain forms of legislation. They came to the conclusion
that it would be cheaper, more expeditious, and more satis-
factory if the constituents of such agents were brought up
in their raw condition, thereby avoiding compliance with
irritating legal enactments which in variably spell delay, as
well as expense, and were mixed and combined to form the
resultant devastating material on the spot. As a result an
explosives factory was established near Prince Rupert,
where tons of this material were manufactured every day,
and by means of the steamers distributed among the
various camps.

The constructional engineers even went further. They
knew from prolonged experience the profound contempt
with which the rock-borer regards this terrible splitting
medium as a result of extreme familiarity therewith, and
consequently they set up a special mill for the production
of " Virite." This is much safer to handle than dynamite,
but is very powerful, and meets with the requirements of
the rock-worker to a complete degree, since it breaks up the
rock well. However, dynamite and common black powder
were manufactured as well.

A friend of mine recounted an experience on the Skeena
River which to him was decidedly uncomfortable, and
which served to illustrate the supreme contempt with
which those who are brought into daily contact with ex-
plosives regard these devastating agents. He was bound
for Hazelton on one of the contractor's river boats, and
when they called at Port Essington they found a sister
craft laden to the water's edge. Its machinery had broken
down, and as it was urgent that she should proceed up the
river without delay, as she had urgent stores aboard, in-
cluding a large consignment of black powder and dynamite
packed on the open deck, towing assistance was requested.

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A DANGEROUS CARGO 279

Evidences of the dangerous cargo were evident, for little
trains of black grains which had made their way through
cracks and crevices in the boxes were scattered around.

The disabled vessel was taken in tow, the derelict being
but a few feet behind the leader. To my friend's consterna-
tion and disturbance of peace of mind, he observed that the
crew of the second vessel were walking among the dangerous
contents smoking with as much impunity and equanimity
as if the boxes carried nails. He shivered appreciably, and
walked to the bow of his boat to shut out the sight. As
they were wending their way slowly through one of the
difficult stretches of water, curiosity provoked him to have
another glimpse of the vessel astern. He received a more
startling shock, for the effort of proceeding through the
troubled waters was so great, that the leading craft was
belching dense clouds of live wood ashes and cinders, and
these were raining around the bulk of explosives on the
second vessel. One of the rock-borers was aboard, and my
friend drew his attention to the danger of an incandescent
piece of half-burnt wood falling among the little black
grains distributed around the boxes. The workman
shrugged his shoulders disdainfully, and then remarked :
" Well, if that lot does flare up, I guess there'll be some-
thing doing I "

This is the rock-borer's characteristic demeanour. To
him the possibility of the mass exploding under the action
of an unlucky hot cinder falling in the critical spot was no
worse than driving a pickaxe into a misfired dynamite
cartridge in a rock-cut. The result in either case would be
the same — devastation, death, and agony on all sides. But
he saw no need to reduce the liability of the accident, and
my friend admitted that he had never breathed so freely in
his life as when he saw the boat with the dynamite and
black powder aboard cast off astern.

Some of the rock-cuts through the projecting spurs are of
prodigious dimensions. From the centre of the waterway

280 ROCK-CUTS

they appear mere trenches through mole-hills, but when one
walks along the permanent way their true proportions loom
up with convincing impressiveness. The slope on the off-
side tumbles abruptly into the water, while, on the other
hand, the wall of rock slants up for a height of 150 feet
before it cuts the profile of the mountain shoulder. Then
in point of length some of these cuts approach 1500 feet.
At places it appears as if the obstruction could have been
negotiated more easily and cheaply by resource to tunnel-
ling, but the adoption of this solution has been reduced to
a very insignificant degree. The first tunnel is at mile 52
out of Prince Rupert, and that is a trifling undertaking of
its class, being only 420 feet in length. Had it not been for
the fact that it runs through a high shoulder, a surface cut
would have been made.

The rock was found to be extremely hard at places, pro-
gress was necessarily slow, and the boring tedious. There
is one cut measuring 6600 feet in length, which occupied no
less than twenty-six months to complete. The drawback to
work of this nature was the relatively small number of men
that could be crowded upon the operation, since the work-
ing face was of small area. This disadvantage was miti-
gated so far as practicable by distributing the drillers over a
certain area, so that the rock could be attacked simul-
taneously at various points from the upper surface.

In places, however, drilling was an exciting and perilous
operation. Where the rocky wall rose up almost vertically
from the water's edge, the men plying the drills were slung
on crazy footholds, secured to the rock face by planks and
logs held in position by a length of chain and iron dogs
driven into the wall. In these cramped quarters careful
movement was essential to avoid sudden acquaintance with
the raging waters below, for the precarious scaffolding was
but two feet or so in width. On other occasions, where the
rocky barrier was not so steep, the men chipped out little
standing spaces around the drill, and were steadied in their

DRILLING 281

movements by ropes trailing from above, and secured to
leather waist-girdles. When the drilling had been com-
pleted, and the charges had been tamped home, the men
were hauled up the face of the rock to retire to a safe
distance while dynamite and powder completed its
splitting work.

Where the character of the mountain profile did not
admit of such scattered attack, as in the cuts approxi-
mating 150 and 200 feet in depth, the men had to drive
their way forward from either side of the obstruction in
just the same way as if they were boring a tunnel. Then
the rate of advance slowed down very appreciably. The
drills employed varied according to the prevailing con-
ditions. The Rand drill was that most generally used, and
was operated by either steam or compressed air, according
to which was the most convenient form of energy, the drills
being adapted to both descriptions of power. Where the
space in which the men had to work was unduly cramped,
such as on steep slopes, and the handling of the power
plant was somewhat difficult, the ordinary type of hand-
drill was pressed into service. Directly the conditions per-
mitted the former tool being brought into service, however,
it was adopted, for such expedited the drilling task to a very
pronounced degree.

The section of the mountains which offered the sternest
resistance, and where the resources of the engineers were
taxed to a superlative degree, was over the first 100 miles,
especially in the vicinity of Aberdeen. The quantity of
dynamite, black powder, and " Virite " consumed was tre-
mendous. To fashion the permanent way between Prince
Rupert and Kitselas Canyon over 2,000,000 shots, as blasts
are called, had to be fired, varying in proportions from
small puffs removing a ton or two of rock to mighty up-
heavals which broke up a whole hill-side. It was by no
means uncommon on the lower stretches of the river, where
the rock-work was heaviest, for explosives to the value of

282 A MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE

$2500 to $5000— from £500 to £1000— to be consumed in
a single blast.

On such occasions the spectacle was magnificent. The
massive hump of solid rock was honeycombed with drill-
holes, and the charges were tamped home. The men upon
the warning blast of a hooter retreated a considerable
distance behind the operator entrusted with the firing of
the shot. Electrical detonation was adopted, the spark
being produced by a small hand-dynamo similar to that
employed for testing electrical lighting circuits in buildings.
The dynamo emitted a peculiar droning, and almost in-
stantly puffs of smoke were to be observed spouting from
all sides of the hump, culminating in a huge plume formed
of rock, dust, and smoke, which rose majestically into the
air. Then there was a reverberating roar, followed a few
minutes later by the long-drawn-out crash of disintegrated
rock as it pattered down the hill-sides, or tumbled into the
river with an inspiring crash. Where the huge hump had
towered a few minutes previously, but a dishevelled pile of
broken rock was to be seen strewn in all directions — a
massive monolith of solid rock, representing several thou-
sand tons, had been shivered as completely as if it were
glass.

By the time that Kitselas Canyon was reached over
10,000,000 pounds of explosives had been consumed, so
that it may be seen that this agent was used with striking
prodigality. Over a million dollars, or £200,000, vanished
literally in smoke, but in so doing it tore out and pulverised
millions of tons of rocks. When the work was in full swing,
the reverberations of the blasts rolled so continuously up
the river during the day that from the distance it sounded
as if a terrific bombardment were in progress.

It says much for the skill and care with which this work
was carried out that the number of accidents attributable
to blasting was insignificant. Now and again the men in
their haste to return to the attack with their drills did not

The Railway Builder's Heavy Artillery

The steam shovel i< one of the constructional engineer's most useful
weapons. The toothei bucket scrapes up the side of the hill and removes
about three tons of material with every bite.

Laying the Track by Machinery across ihe Prairie

By this wonderful apparatus the sleepers are discharged on the grade in a continuous
stream and by means of crowbars, ad^es, and axes are pulled and laid in position.
The rails are likewise lifted from the trucks behind and lowered upon the wooden bed.

CASUALTIES FROM EXPLOSIVES 283

allow sufficient time for charges hanging fire to expend
their devastating effect. At others a dynamite charge
would fail to explode, and the fact was not discovered until
a pick was driven into the lurking danger, when death was
spread on all sides with startling suddenness. While
boring one of the short tunnels that carries the line along-
side Kitselas Canyon three Italians met their doom in this
way. But, taken on the whole, the men in charge of the
blasting arrangements evinced unremitting care, for it was
soon realised that killing and maiming men became highly
expensive in regard to compensation, and this was a sequel
which the station-man did not appreciate.

Life in the construction of this railway has not been held
so cheaply as it was on earlier American railways of great
magnitude. One station-man confessed to me, after a
solitary, unfortunate experience that befell him in this con-
nection wherein one or two foreigners were launched into
eternity, that he had never realised the activity of consuls
before, or the number of relatives these strangers from
Europe possessed.

Owing to excavation being carried out entirely through
rock, the contractors evolved steam-shovels designed
especially for the handling of such debris, and thereby in-
troduced a new feature into railway engineering. The
enormous extent of the rock work did not permit of the
usual methods of handling rock to be practised profitably,
for the stone boat and wooden toboggan slide is slow. On
the other hand, the ordinary steam-shovel was quite in-
capable of dealing with massive boulders weighing perhaps
up to two tons or more. As an experiment a small 40-ton
steam-shovel having certain modifications was built to
ascertain its possibilities in this new field of operations.
Proving completely satisfactory, larger and more ponderous
appliances of this character were built and installed. The
largest tools of this class are cumbersome and powerful, but
they can swing 2| cubic yards of rock, representing from

284 STEAM-SHOVELS

four to five tons in weight, with as much ease and speed as
the small appliances will deal with gravel and clay. At the
time of my visit no less than eleven of these ungainly,
powerful implements ranging up to 70 tons in weight were
at work, and the speed with which they demolished the
debris after a blast, loading it into capacious railway
ballast trucks, was amazing.

The embankments which carry the line across the in-
dentations are also striking pieces of work, for these bays
in certain instances are of considerable width and depth,
being practically submarine gorges or chasms. At times
the contractors wondered if they would ever bring the
stone embankment above the surface of the water, for the
dump appeared to make no appreciable headway. It was
as if the river carried away each truck-load as it was dis-
charged. There is one solid embankment which is 50 feet
wide, stretching across a small bay, which occupied four-
teen months to complete. In another instance, when the
grade commenced to cut across the break in the shore-line
to gain the opposite promontory, the contractors found
themselves confronted with a depth of 70 feet, and, owing
to the material, as it was discharged, spreading itself out
over the river-bed, many months elapsed before the water-
level alone was gained.

There is no danger of the angry river, even when lashed
into its most violent moods of fury, ever being able to
disturb this road bed. No apprehensions regarding under-
mining or the results of scouring are entertained. It is far
too massively and solidly constructed for that. Where the
mountain flanks have been traversed the rails rest on solid
rock, and as the submerged bank on the water-side is in-
tegral with the mountain, undermining is impossible. The
embankments across the indents are likewise of heavy pro-
portions, the wider fills ranging between 75 and 100 feet in
width at the base, and being fashioned of heavy boulders
from the cuts, are sufficiently resistant to the force of the

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CRIB- WORK 286

current to preserve their original character intact. The
grade has been pronounced by engineers as one of the most
solidly constructed on the American Continent, and one
also of indisputable permanency, while Mr. Stewart ad-
mitted to me that it constitutes the finest piece of work of
this class that his firm has ever accomplished in the course
of their construction of 10,000 to 15,000 miles of line
through the American mountains.

To cross the mud-flats and lower-lying islands that are
encountered above tide-water, heavy crib-work has been
practised in conjunction with piling. Massive baulks of
timber have been driven lengthwise into the swamp, and
on this a horizontal network of heavy wooden logs has been
erected, the members criss-crossing in layers, and being so
arranged as to form a homogeneous, massive wooden
skeleton. The spaces between were then filled up with rock
removed from the excavations, the largest boulders forming
the outer walls. Furthermore, where heavy scouring is
likely to be experienced in times of flood, the crib-work has
been protected externally by large masses of stone pitched
promiscuously into the river. In due course the whole of
the crib-work will be protected in this manner, so that the
centre of the crib carrying the metals will be adequately
protected by a sheathing of rock on either hand. At places
the crib-work has been somewhat heavy, for the sloughs
along the Skeena are extensive, and are subjected to heavy
and continuous depletion and accretion, according to the
seasons, but every precaution has been adopted to over-
come any tendencies on the part of the grade to slip, sink,
or to be washed out.

At Kitselas Canyon the grade is about 80 feet above the
level of the waterway, and here, owing to the mountains
cutting across the location at right angles, to terminate
abruptly in a precipitous cliff to form one vertical wall of
the channel through which the river pours, somewhat
heavy tunnelling has been necessary, as the proportions of

286 HEAVY TUNNELLING

the shoulder were too huge to admit of open cuts being
made economically. There are three tunnels driven
through separate spurs approximately 400, 700, and 1100
feet in length respectively, with short intervening stretches
of open line on the brow of the cliff overlooking the canyon.
The task of driving these works was undertaken by the con-
tractors, and when the labour problem was eased advance
was made rapidly. Their early completion was imperative,
in order to connect up with the completed section of the
grade on the eastern side of the canyon, and over which the
forwarding of supplies could be effected, thereby avoiding
the danger that the fickleness of the Skeena offers to navi-
gation through this gorge. In this way the boats could be
restricted to service east of the canyon, thereby reducing
risk of disaster in an appreciable degree.

The country beyond the canyon opens out somewhat,
though the river is overlooked by steep banks, and to pre-
serve the grade considerable side-hill work was necessary.
Advance, however, was effected more rapidly under easier
conditions.

About 16 miles below Hazelton the river is crossed,
advantage being taken of a suitable site avoiding grading
and curvature, where the river winds between lofty banks,
and becomes slightly narrowed. Gaining the southern
bank, the grade strikes slightly inland, to meet the Bulkley
River, near the point where it empties into the Skeena
River. The former is not crossed, however, as the grade
runs between the southern bank of the Bulkley River and
the mountain range, three miles distant from Hazelton,
until it enters the Bulkley Valley. Though the Bulkley River
follows a sinuous course, the location has been carried out
in such a way that bridging of this waterway is avoided
until it reaches a point well to the south, in the valley of
the river of that name.

The slight recourse that has been made to tunnelling
along the Skeena River constitutes a conspicuous feature

The Bulkley River Gorge

The railway skirts the south bank of this river, keeping to the top of the rocky cliffs, which drop
sheer into the water for 80 to 100 feet. In the foreground is the wonderful Indian cantilever bridge
built of tree-logs lashed together with willow thongs and wire.

BEAUTIFUL VISTAS 287

of the location, and, bearing in mind the wonderful scenery
that is unfolded throughout the 186 miles between Prince
Rupert and Hazelton, this is a factor which will be ap-
preciated highly by travellers. Beautiful unobstructed
vistas of mountains, forest, and waterfall are obtained from
the grade for mile after mile, rendering this railway journey
the foremost scenic route through the mountains of North
America. Hitherto the prevalent practice has been to
tunnel through spurs, but on this undertaking the open cut
was favoured more generally. It may seem more expensive,
but, on the other hand, these served to supply the immense
quantities of material that were required for filling the em-
bankment across the breaks in the shore-line, which other-
wise would have had to be obtained from other sources
at heavier expense.

The avoidance of tunnelling also reduced the possibility
of encountering the " unknown " to a remote degree. This
difficulty was experienced only once. A tunnel through a
spur was projected, but the drillers tapped a large strata of
soft clay and mud. Instead of grappling with this con-
tingency, the extent of which could not be ascertained with
certainty, the tunnel was abandoned, and a deep, heavy
open cutting was driven instead, which, although it en-
tailed a slight revision of the line, proved the most eco-
nomical solution of the problem, and ultimately gave a
result preferable from the railway's point of view.

Here and there, owing to the steepness of the mountain
flanks, snow-sheds are necessary to preserve the line from
being overwhelmed by avalanches and rock-slides. But
here again, owing to the skill with which the survey was
carried out, these stretches have been reduced to the mini-
mum. Certainly they are not of so extensive a character
as are found on other lines farther south.

Apart from the bridging of the Skeena below Hazelton,
works of this character have been neither extensive nor
expensive. The tributary waterways flowing into the

288 HUGE PROPORTIONS

Skeena River from the north are insignificant, with the
exception of the Kitsumgallum River, below Kitselas
Canyon, which drains the richly fertile valley of the same
name. But here a heavy structure was not demanded, a
simple steel bridge of the deck design sufficing to carry
the track from bank to bank.

If figures afford a more graphic and convincing idea of
the amount of work that was necessary to carry the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway over the 186 miles between
Prince Rupert to Hazelton through the Cascade Range,
then they assume huge proportions. According to the
official estimates the excavation represents between
3,500,000 and 4,000,000 cubic yards of rock — the equivalent
in tons would be about double that figure — and some
4,000,000 tons of gravel, loose rock, and earth. So far as
the filling is concerned, about another 4,000,000 cubic
yards must be taken into consideration. Broadly speaking,
it may be said that over 12,000,000 tons weight of the
mountains have been handled by the artillery at the
disposal of the engineer to provide 100 miles of grade for
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.

In view of such colossal work, the question naturally
arises as to the cost of the operation. As might be sup-
posed, it attains an enormous total. To overcome the
most antagonistic 100 miles of the Cascade Mountains the
expenditure of $8,000,000, or roughly £1,600,000, has been
incurred. The average cost per mile, according to the
figures extended to me, approximates $80,000, or £16,000.
This sum does not include ballasting, sleepers, rails, or
metallic structures, but merely represents the cost of the
grade. These are truly tremendous figures, and afford one
an idea as to what it means to build a fu-st-class railway
through such a formidable mountain barrier as the Cas-
cades.

Could the work have been accomplished more cheaply ?
Certainly, had the practice generally adopted in such under-

'THE LEVEL LINE WINS " 289

takings on the North American Continent been embraced.
A hne could have been built through this range for about a
third of the above cost, but it would have been a railway
more in name than in fact. It would have comprised the
famous longitudinal ridge of earth with the metals dumped
on top, with grades rising and falling like the teeth of a saw,
describing the most fantastic contortions, with curves like
a corkscrew, as it wound round bays up, over, or round
humps.

But the first 100 miles of track along the Skeena River is
the most startling and sensational expression of the survey-
ing and constructional engineers' skill that has ever been
consummated among the Cascades. For the first 60 miles,
although there has been a desperate grapple with the heart
of the mountains, the grade does not rise an inch. It is as
level as a billiard-table. The dream of the railway manager
has been fulfilled, and traffic operations will fulfil the theory
advanced by the late President Cassatt that " the level line
wins." The possibility of introducing even a mile of level
track among these mountains, though attempted often, has
proved hopeless. Yet the Grand Trunk Pacific threads the
most difficult section of the journey without a rise in either
direction. The heavy financial expense has been justified
fully to achieve such an end. The economy possible in
working expenses will more than recoup the initial outlay
to secure this result. From the sixtieth mile-post — the
limit of tide-water — the line has a gradual climb of 21 feet
to the mile against east-bound traffic, owing to the grade
of the river, but westward it does not exceed 15*84 feet per
mile. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from the character
of its location may be devoid of spectacular construc-
tional feats, but its most outstanding feature, perpetuating
a monumental achievement, is the 60-mile stretch of level
grade, 20 feet above the water-line, through the tumbled
and broken heart of the Cascade Mountains.

CHAPTER XXII

TRACK-LAYING BY MACHINERY

THE constructional engineer does not hand over a
section of railway complete and ready for operation
unless there is an express condition to the contrary. His
task comprises the construction and finishing of the grade
to what is known as " formation " level, which may be
described as the fulfilment of the foundations ready for the
receipt of the ballast, ties or sleepers, and rails. Nor is he
called upon to erect metallic structures and bridges. This
work is an art in itself, demanding specially skilled labour
such as is not found as a rule among graders. On the other
hand, he may undertake to complete any requisite masonry
piers that may be necessary to carry the steel superstruc-
ture. As a rule, if the grade is interrupted by such obstruc-
tions as narrow rivers, creeks, and streams, the contractor
temporarily spans such gaps with a timber trestle to meet
his own requirements, and to facilitate the movement of
his construction trains along the grade. Culverts, however,
enter into his undertaking, and these likewise are often first
in wood, heavy baulks of which, measuring 10 or 12 inches
square, are used and bolted together, the permanent work
being carried out subsequently at leisure.

Consequently, when the contractor retires from the field
of his labours, the path of the rail is represented by a level,
narrow causeway, resembling a high road when it is await-
ing the coming of the steam-roller. The line of stakes
planted by the surveyor on the location still extends un-
brokenly along this rough highway, and indicates the centre

290

TIMBER FOR SLEEPERS 291

line between the two rails. The gauge is standard, viz.
4 feet 8 1 inches, while the depth of ballast deposited upon
the formation grade is 18 inches at least, and upon this
the sleepers supjDorting the metals are laid.

The time was when any class of timber sufficed for
sleepers. As the railway advanced through a new country
the trees cleared from the right-of-way were sawn up and
pressed into this service. On the Grand Trunk Pacific
Railway, however, great stringency has been enforced in
the selection of the timber and the preparation of the
sleepers, so as to secure general coincidence with the re-
quirements of a first-class railway. The timber has to be
cut from sound, live trees, and must be free from such
defects as large and loose knots, wind-shakes, and so forth,
the existence of which impairs the qualities of durability
and strength. The classes of timber available for this pur-
pose were laid down rigorously, and comprised the following
woods in the order named — oak, cedar, tamarac, Douglas
fir, pine, hemlock, and, when permitted by the district
engineer, black spruce could be pressed into service to meet
emergencies or the dearth of the other woods. The sleepers
were divided into two types, known as " first " and
" second-class " respectively. The timber used in each
instance was the same, only whereas those coinciding with
the requirements of the first-class designation had to
measure 8 feet in length by 7 inches thick and 8 inches
wide across the face, the second-class ties, though of the
same length, were slightly less in the other dimensions,
being only 6 inches thick by 6 inches across the face. The
main line is laid exclusively with first-class ties, the second-
class material being reserved for sidings. In both instances,
however, the ties had to be sawn or hewn with two parallel
straight faces with squared sawn ends, and were required
to be reasonably straight.

The consumption of timber in this direction alone has
been tremendous, and represents the depletion of a huge

292 STEEL FOR RAILS

forest. In round numbers 3000 sleepers per mile are laid.
On the Government division between Moncton and Winni-
peg 6,400,000 sleepers have been used, while between
Winnipeg and Prince Rupert about 7,300,000 ties are re-
quired to support the main line and the hundreds of miles
of sidings. This gives a total of no less than 13,700,000
baulks of timber, representing 109,600,000 lineal feet of
timber. The cost of this material has varied very markedly.
On some parts of the prairie, where the expanse of rolling
land is not relieved by the sight of a single tree, and where
every sleeper had to be brought over several hundred miles,
the cost of the baulk of timber by the time it reached the
point where it was to be laid down reached 75 cents, or 3s.!
On the mountain section, along the Skeena River, where an
abundance of suitable wood was to be found immediately
contiguous to the line, the cost averaged 35 cents, or
Is. 5|d. apiece. When it is borne in mind that the sleepers
undergo no preservative treatment with creosote, such as
prevails in Europe, but are delivered in the condition that
they emerge from the saw-mill, wood certainly becomes an
expensive factor in railway-building operations. Although
Canada possesses vast tracks of forest, the inroad made
upon such reserves by the railways alone attains consider-
able proportions. The life of a sleeper averages only six
years, and consequently the consumption of this com-
modity by the various railways in the country attains
several million lineal feet per year, merely for the satis-
faction of renewals.

The consumption of steel in the form of rails to provide
the track upon this trans-continental railway also has
attained prodigious proportions. The rail length varies
from 27 to 33 feet in length, the latter being that most
generally used on the main line, while the weight is 80
pounds per yard. Extensive experiments were carried out
to ascertain the weight of rail most suited to requirements,
since railway practice to-day favours the 100-pound per

THE TRACK-LAYER 293

yard rail, but investigations proved that the 80-pound rail
could withstand the severe climatic and temperature
variations to the most satisfactory degree. On the Govern-
ment moiety of the undertaking 268,022 gross tons of rails
have been used, while on the Grand Trunk Pacific division
the amount of metal required for tracks and sidings ap-
proximates 272,000 gross tons — a total of over 540,000 tons
of steelwork in this one direction. The greater bulk of this
supply has been derived from the mills of the Dominion.
In regard to the Skeena River section the remoteness of the
locality proved a heavy handicap somewhat, inasmuch as
such material had to be conveyed by water, entailing the
protracted voyage round Cape Horn.

But the huge distances that have to be covered in Canada
and the vast amount of track-laying that has to be carried
out has brought about a decided improvement in the
methods of accomplishing this operation. Instead of re-
sorting to hand-labour, with all its fatigue, expense, and
relatively slow progress, ingenuity has devised a mechanical
means of accomplishing this work. The metals are laid at
the rate of two or three miles per day by machinery.

The track-layer is one of the most interesting tools with
which the railway-builder carries out his epoch-making
work. It is a cumbersome, ungainly, and fearsome-looking
implement, but with a convincing, grim, business-like
appearance. From the front it resembles a gallows, and
for this reason has earned the sinister sobriquet of " the
gibbet " among certain members of the engineering
fraternity. On the front of the truck there is a lofty
rectangular scaffolding of rigid construction, strongly
braced and supported for the hard, heavy work it has to
perform. A jib runs forward into the air from the bottom
of either leg to meet at the outer extremity and to form a
derrick. The car on which this structure is mounted
carries a number of small steam-engines, each of which has
to perform a particular function, while at a commanding

294 THE TRACK-LAYER

point high up on the rectangular construction is a small
bridge, from which the man in control of the machine
carries out his various tasks and controls the whole
mechanism. Ropes, hooks, and pulleys are found on every
side, and though, from the cursory point of view, it appears
an intricate piece of mechanism, yet its operation is
absurdly simple.

This machine constitutes the front vehicle of the train,
with the bridge facing the grade and the projecting boom
overhanging the track. Immediately behind are several
trucks piled with steel rails, fish-plates to secure connection
between successive lengths of rails, spikes, and other neces-
saries. Then comes the locomotive, followed by a long
train of trucks laden with sleepers. On the right-hand side
of the train, level with the deck of the trucks, extends a
continuous trough, with its floor consisting of rollers. It
reaches from the rearmost car in the train to 40 or 50 feet
in advance of the track-layer, the overhanging section
being sustained by ropes and tackle controlled from the
track-layer truck whereby the trough can be raised and
lowered as desired.

The appliance is operated as follows. The engine pushes
the fore-part of the train slowly forward until the end of
the rail last laid is approached. The rollers in the trough,
which is in reality a mechanical conveyor, are set in motion.
Then the gangs of men stationed on the rear trucks with
might and main pitch the bulky sleepers into the trough.
Caught up by the rollers the ties are whirled along to the
front of the train, and tumble to the ground in a steady,
continuous stream. As they emerge they are picked up by
another gang of men who roughly throw them into position
on to the grade. Other members of the gang, equipped with
axes and crowbars, push, pull, haul, and prise the ties into
their relative positions and at equal distances apart.

When twenty or thirty sleepers have been deposited in
this manner, a pair of steel rails are picked up by booms

THE TRACK LAYER 295

from the trucks behind the track-layer, are swung through
the air and lowered. As they near the ground ready hands
grasp the bar of steel, steady it in its descent, and guide it
into its correct position. The gauge is brought into play
dexterously, and before one can realise what has happened
the men are spiking the pair of rails to the sleepers, have
slipped the bolts into the fish-plate connecting the new rail
to its fellow already in position, and the track-layer has
moved slowly forward for some 13 or 16 feet over a new unit
of track, meanwhile disgorging further sleepers from the
mouth of the trough.

The noise is deafening, owing to the clattering of the
weighty baulks of timber racing over the noisy rollers in the
conveyor, the rattle of metal, and the clang-clang of the
hammers as the men with powerful strokes drive home the
spikes fastening the rail to its wooden bed, and the hissing
and screeching of steam. Amid the silence of the wilderness
the din created by the track-layer at work is heard for some
time before you can gain a glimpse of the train. The men
speak but little, for the simple reason that they could
scarcely make themselves heard if they attempted con-
versation. Each moves with wonderful precision, like a
part of an intricate machine.

In this way the rail creeps forward resistlessly at a
steady, monotonous pace. The piles of sleepers and rails on
the trucks disappear with amazing rapidity, and the men
engaged in the task of charging the conveyor-trough and
swinging the rails forward, appear to be engaged in a mad
race with steam-driven machinery. The perspiration rolls
off their faces in great beads, and they breathe heavily as
they grasp and toss the weighty strips of timber about as if
they were mere straws. There is no pause or diminution in
their speed. If they ease up at all the fact becomes evident
at the front in the course of a few seconds in a unanimous
outcry from the gangs on the grade for more material,
which spurs the lagging men on the trucks behind to further

296 AN ANXIOUS MOMENT

effort. The only respite from the exhausting labour is when
the trucks have been emptied of rails or sleepers and the
engine has to run back for a further supply, or when the
hooter rings out the time for meals or cessation of labour.

The track-layer at work is the most fascinating piece of
machinery in the building of a large railway. The steam-
shovel may be alluring, and the sight of a large hill of rock
being blown sky-high may compel attention, but it is the
mechanical means which have been evolved to carry out
the last phase — the laying of the metals — that is the most
bewitching. One can see the railway growing in the fullest
sense of the word — can see the thin, sinuous ribbon of steel
crawling forward over the flat prairie, across spidery
bridges, through ravine-like rock-cuts, gloomy tunnels,
and along lofty embankments. Now and again, when the
apparatus has secured a full complement of hands, and
every other factor is conducive, the men will set to work in
more deadly earnest than usual, bent on setting up a
record. Races against time have become quite a craze
among the crews operating the track-layer on the various
railways throughout America, and consequently the men
allow no opportunity to set up a new record, when all con-
ditions are favourable, to slip by.

The work, however, is not without its tragic, adven-
turous, or comedy side. One of the men who had operated
this machine upon half a dozen different big railways be-
tween the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska related a thrilling few
minutes that were encountered among the mountains
farther south. The track-layer was crawling round the
shoulder of a big mountain. It was early spring, and the
snows had not all disappeared, though the days were warm.
Suddenly above the din created by the machinery in motion
a dull, strange rumble was heard. The man on the bridge
glanced up the mountain-side, and, to his horror, saw a
mass of rock, trees, snow, and other debris quivering.
The movement was taking place immediately above them,

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AN ANXIOUS MOMENT 297

and, what was worse, the track-layer lay right in its path.
There was no time to back the train, so with a frantic yell
he stopped his machine, dropped down on the deck of the
truck, and pointing up the mountain to his comrades,
jumped to the ground, and ran as fast as his legs could
carry him along the grade, giving warning as he went. The
men abandoned their tasks hurriedly, and likewise took to
their heels. Soon over 130 men were skeltering along the
uneven track at desperate speed.

Every one reached safety as the rumbling and rolling in-
creased in volume. It appeared as if the top of the peak
had been displaced and had been sent careering down the
mountain slopes. Trees, rocks, and earth were flying in all
directions. The train was seen to quiver ; there was a
twist and a savage wrench. Running to the side of the
grade, the gang saw the track-layer and one or two laden
trucks rolling over and over into the ravine.

When the avalanche had passed the men returned to the
front, found the track piled up with debris, obliterating the
path for the metals for a considerable distance, while down
in the gulch below could be seen wheels and ribs of the
track-layer projecting from the dishevelled pile of rubbish
scattering the mountain-side in all directions. It looked a
fearful and hopeless Avreck, but while the graders were
striving to re-shape the grade, the track-layer crew, by
means of ropes and tackle, retrieved the greater part of
their dismembered friend. By dint of a few weeks' hard
and continuous work it was restored to working order com-
pletely. It was a narrow escape, and it was fortunate that
the man on the bridge happened to observe the coming
catastrophe when he did, or there would have been an
appalling death-roll.

When the track-layer has passed, the line presents a
somewhat bedraggled appearance. The sleepers are
symmetrical and the line is true to gauge, but it is twisted
as strangely as if it had been writhing and doubling under

298 A VALUABLE ECONOMISER

the influence of tremendous heat. In this skeleton form,
however, it is passable, and so long as trains proceed care-
fully and slowly is useful for trafl&c. Certainly it offers a
means of enabling supplies to be forwarded more ex-
peditiously to the front than other methods of trans-
portation.

The track-layer not only constitutes a material time-
saver, but it also represents a valuable economiser in
labour. True, the crew necessary to secure its maximum
efficiency is a large one, but when one bears in mind the
great exertion and large corps of men that are required to
lay a mile of track in the same time by manual effort, its
advantage is overwhelming. When fully manned the
track-layer absorbs 150 men, and when the conditions are
favourable, such as on the rolling prairie, and the going is
free from all hindrances, between three and four miles of
track can be laid in a day. The average, however, ranges
between two and three miles per ten-hour day. Even on
the Skeena River division it has been found possible to
lay two and a quarter miles of track in this time, while
two miles is a very fair average, and, considering that
there the conditions are not favourable to high speed,
this result is eminently satisfactory. On this mountain
section the rate of progress has been retarded by the
delay in replacing the temporary wooden bridges across
creeks and streams erected by the contractors for their
especial benefit by the permanent steel structures, for,
owing to the weight of the track-layer and its train, the
former structures cannot be traversed in safety.

Galicians have proved to be the best type of labourer for
working this machine. They toil along steadily and per-
sistently for hour after hour without showing any signs of
fatigue, while their powerful physiques stand them in good
stead in handling the bulky, heavy ties, and in wielding the
ponderous hammers used for spike-driving. The scale of
wages varies considerably, according to the character of the

THE SKELETON LINE 299

country in which work is being carried out, and, paren-
thetically it may be mentioned, as to whether there is a
plentiful supply or dearth of men. On the prairie section
the track-laj^ers received on the average 15 cents, or 7|d.,
per hour, but on the Skeena River twice this rate prevailed,
making $30, or 12s. 6d., per day, and even then sufficient
men could not be obtained to man the machine fully.

In due course the alignment and levelling of the track is
carried out, for the skeleton line follows all the inequalities
in the surface of the grade, and consequently riding over
such a line is a somewhat painful experience. The ballast
trucks are large, capacious waggons with bottom hopper
doors. The train draws over a section of the skeleton line,
and the contents are dumped in a ridge between the rails.
At the end of the train is the ballast distributor. This is a
flat deck truck carrying beneath the body and between the
wheels a double plough, each edge of which is concave, and
the arrangement of which is such that the two edges form a
horizontal triangle with the point facing the front of the
train. The outer edges of the plough project slightly over
the metals on either side, while it can be raised and lowered
vertically by means of a wheel on the deck above.

After the ballast has been dumped, and as the train
moves forward, the operator of the plough sets the appliance
so that the edges almost glide along the surface of the rails.
The prow or nose of the plough striking into the ridge of
ballast forces the earth along the concave scoops to either
side, so that the material between the rails is smoothed
evenly, while the superfluous ballast is distributed regularly
on either side of the track covering the ends of the sleepers.
By means of this simple system several miles of track can
be ballasted in a single day, and the mechanical distributor
performs its work in every way as efficiently as manual
effort equipped with shovels.

Ballasting completed, the alignment, straightening, and
lifting of the track is completed. The men, a typical plate-

300 BALLAST

laying gang, lift the line bodily in short sections at a time.
A small space is excavated beneath the end of a sleeper and
a screw-jack is introduced. When this is brought into play
the powerful force it exercises prises up a long length of rail
and sleepers together to a height of as many inches as may
be required. When the desired level is secured the other
members of the gang perform what horizontally trueing
movements are requisite, test up with the gauge, and then
by the aid of the shovel pack the ballast beneath the lifted
section of line to keep it in position. At the same time the
spiking is completed. The rails are not chaired to the
sleepers, as is the practice in Europe, but are clamped to
the sleepers by huge nails having a square, overlapping
head which, when driven home, grips the bottom flange of
the rail. The latter rests on a tie-plate, a small, rectangular,
thin plate of steel, which forms a cushion between the rail
and the timber beneath. In the early days the rails were
spiked directly to the wooden foundation, with the result
that the sleeper was soon destroyed by the action of the rail
biting and sinking into the wood under the superimposed
weight of a passing train.

Lifting and aligning may have to be carried out period-
ically for some time after the track is laid, in accordance
with the movement and settlement of the grade and ballast.
When the grade has become thoroughly homogeneous and
the track has bedded down the plate-laying gang make a
final inspection. Then the last dressing of ballast, generally
a fine material, is administered and laid to the level of the
rail. The result is the production of a track as smooth and
level as the proverbial billiard-table, ready for the heavy,
galloping expresses.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE WONDERS OF BRIDGE-BUILDING

ALTHOUGH the massive, lofty creation of steel
- springing across the mighty St. Lawrence in a single
span dwarfs all other erections of this character upon this
railway, the thought must not be entertained for a moment
that there are no other bridges of importance scattered
along the 3543 miles between the Atlantic and Pacific sea-
boards. Such is far from being the case. There is more
than one gap, the crossing of which has occasioned the
engineers endless anxiety, has bristled with peculiar diffi-
culties, and which has enabled success to be achieved only
at the expense of exciting and thrilling adventure.

Upon the national section of the railway the quantity of
steel that has been absorbed for structures of this descrip-
tion attains a huge total. There are no less than 240 steel
bridges of various types, exclusive of that spanning the St.
La^vrence, between Monet on and Winnipeg. Some are in-
significant pieces of work crossing high roads or small
creeks ; others are lofty, slender-looking viaducts, while
here and there is a massive piece of engineering where an
abnormal obstruction has had to be negotiated. In the
division approximating 200 miles in length stretching west-
wards from Lake Abitibi in the heart of New Ontario there
are fourteen of these structures, among which are seven
within a few miles aggregating 3200 feet, one being 700 feet
in length, while five others are each 500 feet from end
to end.

The heaviness of this work, as already mentioned, arises

301

302 MASSIVE BRIDGES

from the fact that the railway cuts across the watershed at
right-angles to the direction of the waterways which pour
into James Bay. The most important are the Moose and
the Abitibi Rivers, whose waters mingle near the estuary.
These waterways are fed by a network of tributaries,
spreading through the land like enormous tentacles, each
of which constitutes an imposing stream in itself. In its
westward journey the line crosses in turn the Black and
Frederick House Rivers, forming the Abitibi River ; a little
later the Mattagami, Kapuskasing, forming the eastern arm
of the Moose River ; and beyond the Opazatiki and Mis-
sinaibi Rivers, forming the western arm of the Moose River.
The numerous waterways swelling the Albany River,
which also empties into James Bay, are encountered farther
west. Under such circumstances extensive and heavy
bridging was unavoidable.

The bridges that are required in this short section of line
are massive, owing to the configuration of the country. The
unstable nature of the river-beds has required the founda-
tions to be carried down to great depths, while the velocity
of the water during the flood season has compelled the con-
struction of heavy, solid piers wrought in concrete. The
presence of these waterways retarded construction very
appreciably, once the contractors secured ingress to the
country. For instance, although it was found possible to
erect a temporary timber trestle across the Frederick House
River for purposes of grading on the opposite bank, the
bridgework being carried out later, when the Mattagami
was gained, a few miles beyond, a halt had to be called until
the steelwork was erected. Yet the Frederick House River
is by no means an insignificant stream. It is about 200 feet
across, and has demanded a steel structure over 300 feet in
length by 75 feet high above the level of the water. In
comparison with the Mattagami River, however, it is but a
creek, for this waterway is fully 600 feet wide at the point
where the railway crosses, while its depth may be judged

CAP ROUGE VIADUCT 303

from the fact that it is navigable to large vessels. Were it
not that falls and rapids are found on its lower reaches,
it is quite possible that vessels before now would have pene-
trated this hinterland from the northern seas, even if it had
been only for timber. Again, owing to the velocity of the
water, the execution of the subaqueous work was pro-
tracted to an appreciable extent.

An outstanding piece of bridging work on the Govern-
ment section is the Cap Rouge viaduct carrying the line
across the valley of the same name. From end to end it
measures 3345 feet, and is of the single-track deck type.
When one is standing at the loftiest point of this structure,
the water rolls 173 feet beneath one's feet. In no place,
except at the respective ends, is the height less than 100
feet. Altogether some 4500 tons of steel were worked into
this viaduct, which comprises thirty-three spans measuring
40 feet in length, twenty -nine spans 60 feet in length, and
three spans of 125, 150, and 160 feet long respectively,
carried on thirty-two towers. At the base the latter vary
in width, according to their height, from 24 feet 4 inches,
tapering to a width of 9 feet at the top deck on which the
sleepers are laid. The towers rest on concrete pedestals,
being anchored in position by means of bolts 2| inches wide
by 11 feet long.

Conspicuous among the expert men engaged in this class
of work was an unusual type of labour — the Red Indian.
The transformation of the native from a hunter obeying no
behests but his own, to a mere unit wielding a hammer or
performing other unskilled labour under the eyes of a
querulous foreman is indeed remarkable. Yet the engineers
assured me that as workmen they could not be excelled.
True, the Eastern Indian is a more industrious type than
his fellow-tribesman on the Pacific Coast, and he appears to
possess a keener intellect. The ease with which he had been
drilled into the utilisation of tools offered convincing testi-
mony to the fact that, handled in the right manner, the

304 RED INDIANS AS LABOURERS

Indian can be wrought into a useful member of the com-
munity.

In bridge-building their clear-headedness, agility, ab-
sence of fear, and physique stand them in great stead, so I
was informed. Certainly they appeared to be eminently
adapted to waiting upon the highly trained men who
specialise in this class of erecting work, and had accommo-
dated themselves in no mean degree to the hustle incidental
to the wider resort to machinery, with its striking labour-
and time-saving factors. Nor do they appear to be fright-
ened easily or to suffer from the effects of superstition. On
the Mattagami bridge, when I visited the country there
were about a dozen or so of these red men busily at work.
A large number had been brought up from Quebec, and
were labouring on the huge St. Lawrence bridge at the time
it collapsed and tumbled into the river. They had been
hurled into the water below, but regained the bank little
the worse for their adventurous immersion, and certainly
were not to be turned from the path of their labours by the
fear that another similar disaster might attend their in-
dustry in the same field elsewhere.

So far as the western section is concerned the Grand
Trunk Pacific was confronted with a heavy bridge before
it emerged from Winnipeg. The grain city terminus is
situate on the eastern bank of the Red River, the Govern-
ment having decided to stop at this point, thereby avoiding
the bridge, the erection of which was left to the second
party to the bargain. This structure is about 712 feet in
length, consisting of four spans, each measuring 150 feet,
and a short approach span at either end. Again, before the
line of demarcation between the prairie and mountain
divisions is gained at Wolf Creek four huge bridges have to
be crossed. Each compels attention, for each possesses
some striking feature of individuality.

For instance, at Saskatoon, where the line swings across
the South Saskatchewan River, the width of the waterway

A RACE AGAINST TIME 305

has necessitated a structure 1530 feet in length. Projecting
above the waters of the river are seven large piers to sup-
port eight spans of steel, of which five measure 225 feet
apiece in length, one 150 feet long, with approach spans at
either end, the rail level being 71 feet above the water-
way.

In due course the North Saskatchewan River has to be
crossed in order to gain access to Edmonton, the point at
which the waterway is negotiated being Clover Bar, whence
the bridge takes its name. At this point the powerful
eroding potency of the Western Canadian river is illustrated
very forcibly, for the bridge carrying the track in the pre-
servation of the grade had to be half as long again as the
river is wide. Whereas the water flows between banks 1000
feet apart, the creation of steel stretches for a length of
1663 feet. It is divided into eight spans. The dimensions
of the piers which support this bridge, however, constitute
the most outstanding feature. They rise up from the water
like massive monoliths, and rank among the largest piers
that have ever been wrought in concrete for bridgework.
The abutments, or shore-supports, of the steelwork are
likewise massive creations of masonry, the fashioning of one
having required 5000 cubic yards of concrete.

Work was commenced when the river was at its lowest
level, an area being enclosed around the sites for the piers
from which the water was pumped, thereby allowing the
men to work in dry soil. A gangway was laid from bank to
bank providing access to the erecting sites, while a small,
shallow-draught steamboat served to transport the material
from point to point. During the winter the ice constituted
the working platform, and provided facilities for con-
veying the thousand and one necessities that were required,
the method of conducting operations being to push forward
the foundations when the river was low by cramming on
every available workman, so as to rush the superstructure
to a point well above flood-level by the time the winter

306 BATTLE RIVER VIADUCT

broke. It was an inspiriting race against time, especially as
the flood season approached, for then every minute counted.
When the piers had been carried to a height of 136 feet
above the water, the setting of the steel was hastened for-
ward. Timber false-work was built up, and thereby each
span was handled in turn.

In the stretch of country lying between the two arms of
the Saskatchewan River another fine piece of steelwork has
been carried out. This is the Battle River Viaduct near
Battleford, 10 miles west of Wainwright. The railway
winds round the brow of a hill from the base of which rolls
a fertile basin carrying the Battle River. The river itself is
not very wide at the point of crossing, though it runs rather
rapidly, but the valley shelves away to such a depth and so
gradually, that in order to maintain the grade from one
edge of the depression to the other, a steel structure IJ
miles in length became necessary. According to the first
location the viaduct was somewhat longer, but three re-
visions served to reduce the length of requisite steelwork, at
the same time easing the curve by which it is approached.
When the train is in the centre of the structure and
immediately over the river, the waters of the latter
tumble along northwards 185 feet below. Some idea
of the great height of the structure is afforded by a
glance at the telegraph posts below, which, following
the contour of the land, appear like matches set out
in a long single row, while when the train is viewed from
the river-bank it has a toy-like appearance, and the men
engaged in painting the steel resemble flies. As one de-
scends the winding high road leading from the top of the
hill to the water-level a magnificent broadside view of the
viaduct is obtained. The latticed steel columns resting on
the solid concrete pedestals, and supporting fifty-four
spans, have a slender, albeit symmetrical, appearance, but
one which from the distance looks far too frail to support
the weight of a train. It is only when one gains the river

" MuSKEli-FlLLER' AT WoRK

The above tool is a kind of scraper carried at the front end of a long; four-wheeled
carriage. The mules are harnessed on either side of the beam connecting the front and
rear pairs of wheels, and push the material scraped up by the forward edge to the spot
where filling is required.

Setting the Bridge Span in the Battle River Viaduct

This part of the structure was erected by scaffolding, the river being crossed in a
single span. The support on either side is carried upon a solid masonry pier. At
this point the rail \i i8o feet above the water-level.

A TRAGIC EPISODE 307

level beside a pier, and cranes the neck to look through the
maze of steel rising overhead, that a graphic impression of
its loftiness and solid character is secured.

There was one tragic episode connected with the erection
of this labyrinth of metal which is brought forcibly to mind
as one descends into the valley by the high road. There is
a little knoll on one side, and from its crest a single shaft
points its head towards the sky. The story of its origin is
short but sad. The erection of the piers was in progress,
and the men were busily driving the piles forming the
foundation of those down by the water-side. The Battle
River was in flood, and was tearing along at a furious pace.
While the gang was driving the ponderous timbers into the
ground something broke. Before the men could realise
what had happened they were in the grip of the turbulent
waters fighting frantically for their lives. One of the
engineering staff engaged on the task, a young Englishman,
grasping the serious plight of those in the water, without a
moment's thought jumped into the torrent to lend assist-
ance. He was able to get one or two to the bank, where
willing hands hauled them to safety ; but when he gripped
a third man, a Ruthenian, he was seen to sink. Precisely
what happened will never be known. Either he was
dragged down and suffocated by the frenzied non- swimmer,
or else he was knocked senseless by a piece of debris. But
both disappeared together with a Scotsman. Every effort
was made to extend assistance from the bank, but without
avail, owing to the fury of the river. It was only after a
long and tedious search that the men working on the bridge
retrieved the bodies of two of their comrades — the waters
refused to deliver the corpse of the third man — and they
were interred on the little knoll, while the monument,
fashioned from material of which the great viaduct was
constructed, commemorates their memory. Yet the little
grave with the lonely pillar carrying their names, dates of
birth and death, bathed in the shadow cast by the bridge,

308 THE HIGHEST BRIDGE

brings home to the visitor the price of conquering the
prairie with steel.

Strangely enough, it is when the prairie is almost crossed
that the highest bridge on this section is found. The
Pembina River disputed the railway's path at a place
known as Entwistle — an end-of-steel town — 66 miles west
of Edmonton. The channel is practically a gorge of great
depth, with steeply sloping sides. To cross from brink to
brink a steelwork structure 900 feet in length became
necessary. A pier in the waterway was found to be im-
practicable, so two main steel towers, one on either bank
at the water's edge, were erected, and upon this the support
for the track was erected, bringing the rails about 213 feet
above the river. Despite its proportions, this bridge was
erected in an amazingly short time, the setting of the steel
occupying about two months.

An interesting illustration of the rigours of the Canadian
Prohibition Liquor Law was provided during the building
of this bridge. The latter was not taken in hand until the
track itself had reached Wolf Creek, 54 miles beyond. An
enterprising pioneer trekked to Entwistle, and impressed
with the prospect of its developing into a healthy, perma-
nent town, owing to coal having been found within easy
distance, embarked upon what was to him a weighty under-
taking— the provision of a hotel. It appeared to be a
promising investment, as numbers of people were flocking
to the spot. Edmonton was the nearest town where he
could procure the requisite materials, and he had to trans-
port them by road to Entwistle, an overland journey of
nearly 80 miles, as the track was not laid. Undeterred by
this outlook he attacked the enterprise, and after he had
expended §22,000, or £4400, found himself possessed of a
commodious, substantial building, with the prospect of
flourishing business. He stocked his cellar with alcoholic
liquors to the value of $8000, or £1600, and was anticipating
the extension of the necessary licence without delay. But

Preparing one Shore End of the Clover Bar Bridge

Elaborate works are always requi-ite in the preparation of the shore supports of a
western Canadian prairie railway bridge. The foundations have to be carried down to
a great depth, owing to the friable nature of the soil.

BRIDGES 309

to his dismay, instead of receiving official permission to
vend liquor, the myrmidons of the law, in the form of the
Mounted Police, arrived and sealed up the whole of his
stock. He had overlooked the fact that the Pembina
Bridge had not been built, the railway contractors having
resorted to a temporary measure to negotiate the waterway.
The authorities foresaw the formation of a big camp of
bridge-builders, and that these worthies, like their col-
leagues on the grade, would indulge freely if the oppor-
tunity were given.

By a curious coincidence the commencement of the
mountain division was marked by the construction of
large bridge across the MacLeod River. This is a heavy
piece of work, 667 feet long by 118 feet high. A small
island in the centre of the main channel was pressed into
service to carry a heavy concrete pier to form the central
support to the two main spans. This bridge was completed
likewise in a very short time, the setting of the steelwork
occupying less than three months.

It might be thought that the mountains would impose
a severe tax upon the bridge engineer, but such is not the
case upon this railway. At Prairie Creek, at the entrance
to the mountains, a structure 800 feet long had to be intro-
duced to span the huge couloir in the flank of the foot-hills
through which Prairie Creek, a mere stream, makes its way,
while the crossing of the Athabaska River at Swift's Ranch
called for a long and lofty structure, owing to the river
being about 700 feet wide at this point. The Miette River
likewise has to be crossed, in order to gain the summit in
the Yellowhead Pass, but this is an insignificant piece of
bridge-building, as is also the crossing of the Moose River,
just below the falls of the same name.

Upon the conclusion of the survey it was feared that the
Fraser River, owing to its tortuous course between tower-
ing cliffs, would call for considerable skill on the part of
the bridge engineer, owing to the difficulty of securing

310 A BIG UNDERTAKING

approaches except at great expense. The original location
indicated the necessity of swinging from one side to the
other of the " Bad River " no less than five times, but re-
vision demonstrated the feasibility of reducing such effort
to three occasions. The most notable of these is that
whereby Fort George is entered. The selection of the site
for this work occasioned considerable trouble, as the
Nechaco enters the Fraser at this point, the meeting of the
waters forming an extensive lake-like expanse. One
problem was to find a good foundation for the intermediate
piers, and though the river-bottom was probed carefully
foot by foot, it appeared impossible to overcome this
obstacle, unless heavy foundation work were undertaken,
for the bed was found to be highly treacherous. At last,
however, a number of islands scattered about the estuary
were investigated, and here it was found possible to secure
the desired end with complete satisfaction, so that now
these waste patches of low-lying land are being pressed into
service.

It was on the Pacific Coast that the Grand Trunk Pacific
Railway was brought face to face with its greatest obstacle
in connection with bridge-work, and this was before the
line had passed 10 miles from Prince Rupert. This port
stands on Kaien Island, separated from the mainland at
the point where the railway crosses by the Zanardi Rapids.
This is a constricted channel through which the water
rushes at a furious pace with the movements of the tides,
this velocity varying from 12 to 14 miles an hour, the
alternating rise and fall of the ocean at this point during
the highest tides being about 26 feet.

Though the channel is not very wide, it has called for the
erection of a bridge nearly 1000 feet in length, including
two spans of 55 feet each, two of 150 feet, and two of 250
feet. The last-named are the main or central spans, and it
was the preparation of the piers for these that troubled
the engineers.

A BIG UNDERTAKING 311

The racing of the waters was found to be so furious at the
highest spring tides that divers could not descend, and con-
sequently work had to be carried out in short periods be-
tween the ebb and flow when the water was at its lowest
and quietest. This represented a total available working-
time of three hours out of the twenty-four hours, and even
then work was very difficult and perilous. Of course,
during the neap tides the duration of working was pro-
portionately longer. Cribs, or box -like structures, were
built around the foundation-sites to provide a working
space within, but it was found impossible at times to render
them capable of withstanding the force of the water. The
engineers thereupon steadied the cribs in position by a pair
of massive cables stretching from two corners of the
temporary work to either bank. This was partially
successful, but one day their complacency with this
manoeuvre was disturbed very sadly by the wire hawsers
snapping like pack-thread under the strain imposed by the
pressure of the tides. As may be imagined, such capricious
behaviour on the part of the sea was regarded by the work-
men somewhat with alarm, and they kept a watchful eye
and ear open ready to make their escape at the first signs of
danger. Many thrilling moments were experienced, but
owing to the unremitting vigilance and skill of the engineers
no fatalities were incurred.

When it was found that two leashes were insufficient to
hold the crib in check, two additional hawsers were pressed
into service, a pair stretching to either bank both above and
below the bridge site respectively. This served to hold the
crib in position from each corner, and though the hawsers
sung and groaned ominously, they held out until one day
the whole four gave way under the strain, and the crib went
rushing down-stream, the sport of the angry tidal water.
It was a continuous uphill struggle against heavy odds, but
science at last prevailed, and now a handsome, solidly built
bridge carries the line across the Zanardi Rapids.

312 CALCULATION UPSET

Higher up the Skeena, about 16 miles below Hazel ton,
where the railway sweeps across the waterway to gain the
southern bank of the river, another spirited grapple with
Nature has been waged in the erection of the largest bridge
on the mountain division. When I was on the grade in the
autumn of last year, the contractors were completing their
arrangements for this undertaking. Directly the Skeena
dropped to its lowest level, about October, the foundation
work was to be commenced, and was to be continued
without intermission throughout the winter, so that when
the ice broke and the river, fed by the melting snows on the
mountains, rose to its highest level in June, the workmen
would be well above flood level, and could continue the
erection of the piers to the level of the steelwork in safety.
A vessel had been chartered specially to bring a whole
cargo of cement from Hong Kong, and 5000 barrels had
been hurried up the river, together with timber and other
material likely to be demanded, and deposited upon the site.
Everything had been gauged to a nicety, so that the work-
men could carry out their task in accordance with a care-
fully prepared schedule like a train operating on a time-table.

But alas ! The best-laid schemes were torn awry sadly.
Though the river-bed had been surveyed thoroughly and
carefully, when it came to commencing the subaqueous
work the unexpected was encountered in very truth. The
bottom, instead of showing solidity, as soundings indicated,
was composed of rotten rock, incapable of providing a suit-
able foundation. The specifications called for piers 120
feet in height from the bottom of the river to the level
where the steelwork was to be placed into position, but
when the true state of affairs was ascertained, it was
realised that the foundations would have to be carried
down to a far greater level than was anticipated. This
upset calculations so seriously that, strive as they might,
the contractors could not make up leeway — the handicap
was too heavy.

CALCULATION UPSET 313

The Skeena Bridge will be an imposing structure. The
link of steel stretching from bank to bank is to be 1200 feet
long, divided into two main spans and two shore spans,
while the piers supporting the centre spans over the river
channel will be 30 feet thick at the foundations. Solidity
and weight in this connection have been imperative, owing
to the velocity of the Skeena when in flood, and the huge
amount of flotsam and jetsam in the form of uprooted trees
which it brings down in its fury.

CHAPTER XXIV

ESTABLISHING A NEW PORT ON THE PACIFIC

FOR some time the one great stumbling-block to the
completion of this new railway across the Dominion
was the question of the outlet on the Pacific coast. Canada
has but one Occidental gateway — Vancouver — and this
fact sank so deeply into the minds of the people that they
believed firmly and implicitly that there was no other
point on that broken coastline where a port could be estab-
lished. Yet Vancouver has only made its advance by
force of circumstances. Though its anchorage is above
reproach once the land-locked area of water is gained,
yet navigators will tell one that it is the most dangerous
port on the surface of the globe to enter. The entrance
is a narrow strait, " The Narrows," and here the tide
rushes through with great velocity. A speed of eight miles
an hour is by no means uncommon, and skilful navigation
is demanded to cope with this serious menace. Occasion-
ally the significance of this peril is brought home forcibly
by a ship being caught in the turmoil of current unawares
and being smashed to pieces on the rock-girt coast. Owing
to the proportions of the shipping industry, slow speed
when navigating this attenuated neck of water is impera-
tive, and this often proves the navigator's undoing, as he
fails to secure steering-way. I came down the coast with
one captain who but a few weeks before had entered this
port for the first time in his life, though he knew all the
other harbours of the world, from Vera Cruz to Singapore,
and Sydney to Southampton. His boat could make

314

VANCOUVER 315

14 knots an hour, and he was leaving Vancouver under
easy steam with the tide against him. When he reached
The Narrows he found that the current was running at
eight knots per hour, which was more than his vessel could
steam at the moment, so he had to back into the bay to
make another attempt !

When the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was launched
speculation was rife as to where they would establish their
sea terminal at Vancouver, for it was thought absolutely
impossible to be able to discover another suitable point on
the Pacific sea-board. That hope had long been abandoned
after fruitless expeditions. However, the authorities
decided to carry out a minute investigation of the heavily
indented coast-line to satisfy themselves as to whether
or no a promising site for a second port had not been
overlooked. A vessel was engaged for this curious mission,
and, armed with Admiralty charts, a most thorough
exploration was made along the coast between the United
States and the Alaskan frontiers. No inlet was overlooked,
and a voluminous report concerning the advantages and
defects of each bay was prepared.

There was one known point which possessed sufficient
attractions to become a sea-coast commercial centre.
This was Port Simpson, at the extreme northern end of
the Canadian Pacific coast-line, at the estuary of the loch
forming the Portland Canal. Thirty years ago the question
was debated as to whether Port Simpson or Vancouver
should be developed, and choice ultimately fell upon
the last-named. For years past coastal trading vessels
plying between the south and Alaskan ports have called
here regularly, while the Hudson's Bay maintain an
important post, and practically speaking constitute the
length and breadth of the port. There is a magnificent
land-locked bay and ample anchorage for all classes of
vessels. From the popular point of view it has one heavy
drawback — it is the wettest spot on the coast, even

316 TUCK'S INLET

rivalling Vancouver in this respect, for the annual rainfall
averages 120 inches per year !

The first investigations, however, were not fruitful.
Exploration testified to the fact that although the coast-line
is broken up more heavily than the Norwegian shore —
which picturesque corner of the world it closely resembles
and strongly recalls, with the majestic cliffs and beautiful
fjords — the bays were of no practical value from an im-
portant trans -continental railway's point of view. Under
the circumstances it appeared as if the enterprise would
have to rest its western terminal upon the Pacific either at
Port Simpson or Vancouver — there was nothing between
these two extremities of the coast.

But in the course of the investigations the interest of
the party engaged in this work had been aroused in a
curious manner. They had examined the estuary of the
Skeena River without success, and following the coast-line
northwards had lighted upon a large bay known then as
" Tuck's Inlet." Sheltered behind the hills was a huge
sheet of water hemmed in on every side, and the general
appearance conveyed the impression that this was the
ideal locality for which they were searching. But at
first they did not penetrate the inlet. Reference to the
Admiralty chart showed the existence of a formidable
obstruction stretching across the entrance in the form of a
submerged rock or shoal. This was sufficient to render
the spot useless from the mercantile point of view, so they
glided past the entrance and completed their journey
about 20 miles to the north at Port Simpson.

When the results of their investigations were com-
municated to the President, INIr. Charles Melville Hays
somehow was attracted by Tuck's Inlet. It appeared to
exercise an irresistible magnetism. Further investigations
were made. Indians and white people frequenting these
northern waters were interrogated, but they confessed
that although an obstruction might exist at the mouth

TUCK'S INLET 317

of the inlet they knew nothing about it, which perhaps
was not surprising because their boats drew only a few
inches of water. As a result a second journey was made
to the Skeena Estuary and Tuck's Inlet was entered
and traversed from end to end, a distance of 14 miles.
Furthermore, the President visited the spot himself, and
impressed with the possibilities and outlook, requested a
thorough survey to be made at the entrance for the
obstruction, so as to be able to estimate its significance.
The survey boat sailed up and down the mouth of the
inlet, proceeding well out to sea and well inland on either
side, sounding carefully and continually, but they could
find no trace of any rock. Either it had never existed or
it had disappeared under a seismological movement ; the
entrance was as clear and as unobstructed as the approach
to Southampton or New York. The matter remained a
mystery until at last it was discovered that in the pre-
paration of the Admiralty chart the rock had been placed
in the wrong bay ! In reality it belonged to another indent
of the coast. The mistake in that chart which had been
accepted blindly as evidence of the unsuitability of Tuck's
Inlet as a port had arrested the development of Canada's
Pacific sea-board for a quarter of a century. By accident
a new harbour had been discovered, and the rectification
of the hoary error is rapidly transforming the Dominion's
western frontier, and producing a " magnet of the north."

It was decided there and then that the new railway
should have its Pacific terminal in this bay. From that
moment there ensued a great forward movement in
Northern British Columbia. Hardy pioneers set out for the
new hub of human endeavour that was to be established
550 miles from civilisation, and as rapidly as the land was
cleared tents sprang up to house these indomitable frontier
ambassadors of commerce and industry.

From the scenic point of view the situation possessed
every attraction. The shore rises up in a succession of

318 PRINCE RUPERT

steep, low, rolling hills, rising higher until they mingle with
the lofty mountains forming the background, and of
which Mount Hays is the dominating monarch. When
the railway President first arrived not a sign of civilisation
disturbed the peace of Nature. There was an Indian
village, Metlakatla, where the Reverend Duncan estab-
lished his diminutive kingdom in one corner of the bay,
but the site which appealed to the President was several
miles from this faint Christianising indication. The
mountain-sides were covered with towering trees and
dense undergrowth, reaching down to the water's edge,
while the soil comprised two feet or more of muskeg,
damp and cold, covering the solid rock.

To establish a town here certainly appeared unfavour-
able, but the President had penetrated more forbidding
country in which to carry the railway, so was not deterred
by the outlook. Axes could clear the trees, while dynamite
could level the humps. Without waste of time, he deter-
mined the most suitable site for the " Terminal City," and
Prince Rupert was born.

Some curiosity has been evinced as to how the port
received its name. It was recognised that " Tuck's Inlet "
was neither dignified nor impressive. To secure a name
which should be somewhat more in consonance with the
character of the railway which was being built to afford
another link between the Pacific and the Atlantic, appeal
was made to the public for a suggestion, with a prize of
$250, or £50, as an incentive. Some 15,000 letters were
received in response to the invitation. Investigation
revealed two titles closely similar — Port Rupert and
Prince Rupert respectively. The latter, advanced by a
young lady of Winnipeg, appeared the most singularly
appropriate, since it extended recognition, somewhat
tardy it is true, to the memory of one who had played
an important part in unravelling the unknown northern
country and its marvellous resources. Consequently, from

PRINCE RUPERT 319

that day Tuck's Inlet became known as Prince Rupert.
Owing to the close similarity of the two suggestions,
however, the second contestant's effort received appre-
ciation in the form of a cheque for a sum equal to the
prize offered.

No time was lost in clearing the site for the town-builders,
and in this direction an interesting anecdote is related.
The President, upon surveying the aspect of trees, asked
a contractor among the company, and who was experienced
in the work of clearing, what would be his price to carry
out the task. The contractor instantly expressed his
willingness to fulfil the work at $200, or £40, per acre.

" What ? " ejaculated the President somewhat in-
credulously.

" Well, I could do it safely for $300— £60— per acre,"
retorted the contractor.

" Look here," laughed the President. " I'm afraid
you'll burn your fingers at that price. I'm prepared to
pay you $400 (£80) per acre ! "

The contractor opened his eyes widely, and came to the
conclusion that he had better make a closer investigation
before tendering for the work unless he wanted to court
financial loss.

As a matter of fact, the initial clearing operation proved
heartbreaking, for the forest was in its primeval condition.
As the timber ran to a good size for the most part, the
railway company established saw-mills on the spot, and the
trees, as felled, were converted into lumber, for which
there was a great demand for a thousand and one purposes.
The first task to enable the railway construction to be
commenced was to erect a small wharf to facilitate the
unloading of incoming vessels with constructional material.
When this was accomplished a large corps of surveyors
appeared on the scene and prepared to lay out the town
site.

The planning of Prince Rupert has indicated a new era

320 PRINCE RUPERT

in regard to such work so far as Canada is concerned.
Though the port is destined from its strategically powerful
commercial situation to assume a prominent position on
the Pacific coast, and, moreover, will develop into a
thriving industrial and railway centre, it has been plotted
on the latest and most scientific town-planning principles.
The task was entrusted to a firm of landscape architects
in Boston (U.S.A.), and the Garden City idea has been
adopted on probably the largest scale yet attempted.

Owing to the extensive length of the water front,
enabling vessels to berth lengthwise with ease, it is
doubtful whether the lateral projecting wharfs, so char-
acteristic of other American ports, will come into vogue,
certainly not for many years to come, as their con-
struction will entail an enormous expenditure, owing
to the great depth of water, and the intensely hard
rock forming the sea-bed. If such have to be attempted
they will have to be wrought in masonry. The port
will thus be spared one phase of disfigurement. The
streets also rise in the form of terraces to the highest
point, and fall away gradually in the same manner on the
opposite hill-side. This topographical feature is being
preserved and improved. The streets for the most part
have been laid out at right angles to the water-side in
such a way that the commercial centres of the town have
direct communication with the latter. The thoroughfares,
notwithstanding the hilly character of the town, have
been provided with easy grades, and are of great width.
This principle has been adopted to reduce the spreading
effects of fire.

Owing to the surface being solid rock, which is encoun-
tered about two feet below the surface of the top-soil, which
is merely decayed vegetable matter, town-improvement
undertakings are proving extremely costly. Trenches for
sewers and other purposes have to be excavated out of
the solid rock. Again, owing to the undulating nature of

A FLOURISHING TOWN 321

the hill -slopes, street -grading is laborious and expensive,
inasmuch as the depressions which have to be filled in
places are considerable. Despite these handicaps, however,
the town has forged ahead with a rapidity almost without
parallel in Canada, where towns spring up and grow like
mushrooms. Within less than two years after its official
foundation 5000 people had made the port their home,
and they are controlled by one of the most enlightened,
enterprising, albeit business-like civic governments in the
world. Every member of the municipality is a hard-
headed commercial man who has climbed the ladder of
success from humble beginnings, and who, therefore,
can be relied upon to secure full value for every penny
expended, and to reduce waste to the minimum. This
end is being achieved without hampering private enter-
prise in the slightest degree, and the result is a striking
example of ratepayers and their representatives working
hand-in-hand to secure the best results for the benefit of
the whole community, both of to-day and to-morrow,
without saddling posterity with millstones in the form of
commitments to the fruits of short-sighted policies.

Though the town is dependent to a very great degree
upon the railway, other enterprises are being attracted
to contribute to the port's prosperity. Already it has
become the centre of the Skeena Salmon Fishery, which
now has ousted the Fraser River from premier importance.
Canneries are to be found on all sides, there being twelve of
these manufactories on the Skeena alone, employing 1200
boats and 2400 men during the season, when $100,000, or
£20,000, a month is paid out in wages, while the annual
export of produce to the United States and Great Britain
exceeds 140,000 cases. The Skeena River salmon has
proved more popular with the public, for the fish caught
in these colder waters is plumper, firmer, more juicy and
fleshy than that obtained farther south. This industry is
almost entirely in the hands of the Indians and Orientals,

322 HALIBUT FISHERY

who have established themselves firmly on this part of the
coast. This yield from the waters is supplemented by the
halibut and herring catches. Within a few miles of the
port the finest halibut in the world is obtained in abun-
dance, this ground being to the Pacific what the Dogger
Bank is to the North Sea, only it is within easier distance
of the mainland.

The halibut fishery, however, is still in its infancy so
far as Prince Rupert is concerned, for there is only one
packing plant devoted to the preparation of this fish for
the London market. Though the catch aggregates several
million pounds per annum, the greater bulk is taken to
Vancouver at present. This condition of affairs is to be
changed when the railway is in communication with the
interior parts of the Dominion, for the two days' journey
by water down the coast will be obviated, and the markets
in Eastern Canada brought that interval of time nearer
the fishing - grounds. Large halibut - packing plants,
financially supported by English and American capital,
are already in course of construction at Prince Rupert.

The port also will become a great centre of the lumber
industry, for enormous supplies of valuable timber are
within easy reach. The pulp-wood industry should prove
highly attractive also, for there are ample reserves of
wood suited to this purpose immediately available. There
is one large pulp-mill at Swanson's Bay, a little to the south
of the port, but its development has been hampered by
lack of convenient transport facilities.

Mining will certainly claim considerable attention,
owing to the rich wealth of ore of all descriptions to be
found in the surrounding mountains. A smelter has been
projected, and should this scheme materialise it should
afford first-class opportunities for the development of other
metal industries. A small shipyard is in urgent request,
and seeing that the shipping is increasing in volume very
rapidly, it should prove a profitable investment.

THE PORT 323

But the future of Prince Rupert depends essentially
upon its mercantile commerce. From the shipping point
of view it possesses every possible attraction. In the
fu-st place there is no difficulty in making the port ; its
entrance faces the open Pacific, and is approachable in any
kind of weather ; and the task of entering the harbour
is by no means a tax upon the navigator, seeing that it is
three-quarters of a mile in width, extending out directly
the portal is entered to 1| miles. Such natural facilities
cannot be equalled by any other port on the Pacific coast.
It is safer and easier to enter even than San Francisco.
From the mouth the bay stretches in a continuous line for
a length of 10 miles, with a maximum width of 1| miles,
and there is sufficient depth of water to enable the largest
vessels afloat to ride at anchor in absolute security, as the
harbour is enclosed on all sides by towering mountains and
hills. From the entrance the channel is straight and wide
to the wharves. For night navigation automatic acetylene-
lighted buoys have been installed. Indeed, a pilot is not
necessary, as frequent experience has shown, captains who
have never entered the port before threading the entrance
and coming to within 50 feet of the wharves, and then
only heaving-to in order to be brought alongside and
moored.

Owing to the abrupt manner In which the mountains
slope down into the water, considerable difficulty was
experienced in erecting the timber wharf which at present
suffices for the port's requirements, and which aggregates
1400 feet in length. Some of the piles utilised in its
fabrication ran up to 110 feet in length by from 12 to 14
inches square. Alongside the wharf the depth of water
ranges from 30 to 38 feet at lowest spring tides, while the
extreme rise and fall of the tides is 26 feet. In the centre
of the bay the depth of water is exceptional, ranging from
200 feet upwards. This is somewhat of a drawback in one
respect, in that it hinders anchoring, but this state of

324 THE TWO FIRST PORTS

affairs is to be remedied by the installation of mooring
buoys in the roadstead.

Considered from the shipping point of view Prince
Rupert is certainly the Halifax of the Pacific, and it is
somewhat curious that the new railway should link
together the oldest and the youngest, as well as the finest
two ports to be found in Canada, and situate on the two
sea frontiers respectively. The fact that it is free from ice,
a result due to the influence of the warm Japanese chinook
wind, rendering it available the whole j'^ear round, is an
appreciable factor in its favour. That its future as a
shipping centre is realised to the full is borne out by the
rapid increase in its maritime trade. Whereas in 1907
the tonnage handled did not exceed 700 tons per annum,
by the end of the year 1910 it had risen to over 10,000 tons.
When the railway is completed, and the port is brought
into touch with Eastern and Central Canada, its oversea
trade will increase with startling rapidity, since at the
present moment the outgoing produce is strictly limited.

The railway company, together with the Government,
has appropriated practically the whole of the water-front,
thereby making adequate provision for the exigencies of
the future, and avoiding lack of elbow-room when ex-
pansion sets in. An imposing terminus for the convenience
of passengers is to be erected, as befitting a trans-conti-
nental railway, on the water-front, within a stone's-throw
of the water's edge, so that the distance between railway
and ship will be reduced to the minimum. Ample facilities
are also to be provided for the expeditious handling of
freight in accordance with modern methods. The station
will be overlooked by a magnificent hotel, in accordance
with the latest enterprise of the railway, which has found
its first highly favourable expressions in the magnificent
hostelries the " Chateau Laurier " at Ottawa, and the
Selkirk Hotel at Winnipeg. Thus the requirements of
travellers are being studied to a complete degree, so that

THE WATER-FRONT 325

the tedium and anxiety of travel may be reduced to the
minimum. For the purposes of these improvements the
whole of the area within a certain distance of the front has
been levelled by the aid of dynamite, and remembering the
character of the site, and its rugged, hilly character, this
has proved no easy achievement. When the first tree
was felled there was not a level square foot of ground
along the water-front, now there is something like 20,000
superficial feet of land as level as a bowling-green. Four-
teen hard, solid months were expended in clearing and
levelling the site whereon the present temporary buildings
now stand, and dynamite was used with a liberal hand.
In one blast a whole hill 100 feet in height was blown
literally into the sea. This work is still in progress, since,
in addition to the area required for the passenger service,
miles of sidings will be in demand for the freight traffic.

The railway dominates the whole position. The property
belonging to the Grand Trunk Pacific stretches over about
24,000 acres all told, so that there is ample provision for the
future. In addition to the water frontage along Kaien
Island the railway has secured also that immediately across
the water, which, according to those already in residence,
will develop into the residential quarter of the port. In all
the railway owns 55 miles of water-front. This will solve
the wharfage question when the mercantile traffic assumes
such proportions as to demand more space. At the
same time it secures virtual control of the port. Rivals
will experience considerable difficulty in gaining access
to the water and thus set up a competition which in the
case of railways is often disastrous to both rivals.

One concealed nook of the bay offers a strange contrast
to the bustling twentieth century with all its varied and
intricate civilising influences. Here one may see the
aboriginal where primitiveness, mythology, and quaint
traditions still prevail. This is the Indian village of
Metlakatla, and the juxtaposition of the two centres.

326 AN INDIAN VILLAGE

strangely divergent, appears incongruous. Metlakatla,
with its weird, grotesque Indian monuments and bizarre
cemetery, will rank as an interesting sight to the busy port.
There is a possibility, however, that the village will
become modernised, and will blossom into a sylvan
retreat for the merchant magnates of Prince Rupert
desiring to get away from the turmoil of the city. It
would be interesting to penetrate the Indian's mask
of stoical indifference to ascertain his innermost thoughts
concerning the wonderful transformation that has been
wrought over his country, for the land on which Prince
Rupert is now rising up was part of the Indian reservation,
and had to be purchased from the red men scarcely a
decade ago.

CHAPTER XXV

THE FUTURE OF THE RAILWAY AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON
CANADIAN AND INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE

WHEN the last coin for construction has been paid,
when the cast - up account shows that some
$100,000,000, or £20,000,000, have been sunk in the task of
providing a new road of steel across the Dominion of
Canada, the questions arise : What are the future prospects
of this gigantic enterprise ? How will it fare against the
bitter competition that is certain to be waged by its
powerful rivals ? Can it pay ?

In the first place it may be said that the new railway has
nothing to fear from competition. It is like the army
secure in an impregnable fortress, resisting an assault
delivered over open country where the besiegers are ex-
posed on all sides. Firmly entrenched as this railway is
behind its low grades, it has nothing to fear from rate-wars.
This physical advantage is too overwhelming to be over-
come by such methods. Also, as traffic, like water,
electricity, or any other movement of Nature, is certain to
follow the path of least resistance, the stream of commerce
flowing along the channel of the Grand Trunk Pacific will
be safe from deflection ; on the other hand, it will swell in
volume. It is not difficult to realise that this latest enter-
prise, in the furtherance of which Canadian and British
interests, both private and Governmental, have co-operated,
is destined to dominate the railway situation in the
Dominion, and without any of those adverse factors in-
variably associated with an autocratic power, because the

327

328 PROSPECTS FOR AGRICULTURISTS

requirements of the people will always exercise a restrain-
ing influence through its representatives.

So far as the question of being commercially profitable
under such progressive and enterprising control as guides
the destinies of the line at present, there should be no fore-
bodings. There is scarcely 100 miles of country threaded
by the railway which is not possible of economic develop-
ment in some form or other, and certainly to a more than
adequate degree to render every mile of track revenue-
producing. Even in the Maritime Provinces, where settle-
ment has been advanced to such a pronounced extent, it
traverses country awaiting the arrival of the husbandman.
It seems difficult to believe that there are stretches of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick where evidences of civilisation
are scarcely visible. One is apt to think that the most
fertile areas were occupied years and years ago. Such is far
from being the case. To-day the agriculturist is offered just
as golden opportunities to excel among the valleys and
dales of New Brunswick on either side of the Grand Trunk
Pacific, and can secure land every whit as good as what was
available half a century ago.

After leaving Moncton the railway has to follow a some-
what circuitous route through New Brunswick, in order to
gain Quebec, owing to the State of Maine thrusting its
boundary so far northwards towards the St. Lawrence
River. Had it been possible to have cut across this inter-
cepting territory, the mileage between the Atlantic sea-
board and the river ports would have been reduced very
materially, but the line was advocated as an " All-Red
Route," and consequently it was forced to make a huge bend
to skirt the political obstruction.

As already explained, when it crosses the St. Lawrence it
strikes north-westwards towards the 55th parallel of lati-
tude, passing through absolutely virgin country for about
1300 miles, where lumber, minerals, and land adapted
admirably for diversified farming exist in abundance.

THE TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN 329

With the exception of 200 miles between Lake Nipigon and
the edge of the prairie, every mile is capable of being
brought to a highly productive stage. West of Winnipeg a
vast treasure-house of grain is threaded for a solid 1000
miles. It is estimated that there are between 200,000,000
and 300,000,000 acres of land suited to cereal-raising on this
great plain rolling away from Ontario's boundary to the
Rocky Mountains. Seeing that the Canadian Pacific Rail-
way draws a large proportion of its revenue from traffic
created from about 7,000,000 acres — but a mere fraction of
the aggregate — it will be recognised that the Grand Trunk
Pacific holds a strong position so far as the Prairie Provinces
are concerned.

Then there intervenes a stretch of about 170 miles, which,
lying among the mountains, will be dependent mainly, for
several years to come at all events, for an income from
tourist traffic. Yet this in itself should attain considerable
proportions, owing to the diversity of wonderful scenic
beauty revealed among the Rockies at this point, with
Mount Robson as the great magnet from the fact that it is
the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. Unlimited
opportunities are open to the mountaineer to display his
climbing powers, not only on this peak, but on scores of
other crests in the immediate vicinity, the majority of
which rear up to a height of over 10,000 feet, and all await-
ing the footstep of man on their higher levels. The
sportsman, too, will revel here, for whether his quest is for
fish, fur, or feather, he will be able to gratify his desires to
the full among the dense forests and broad, swirling rivers.
The neighbourhood has the material for development into
a popular hydropathic spa, inasmuch as within easy reach
of the line the hottest medicinal springs yet known in the
Dominion have been discovered, and their therapeutic
value is enhanced by their romantic situation, revealing
magnificent panoramas of forest, mountains, lake, and
river.

330 NATURE'S OWN GARDEN

Emerging from the Rockies, the railway enters another
wonderful agricultural belt, which ranks among the finest
in the country. Here mixed farming holds out excellent in-
ducements, while mining and lumbering have indicated
their supreme importance. This country fringes the rail-
way in an unbroken line for some 440 miles, to be broken
abruptly by the uprising of the crests of the Cascades.
This is Nature's own garden. There is no demand upon
man to exercise his ingenuity in the devising of irriga-
tion works which are costly, and which, after all, are
but inefficient substitutes for natural watering. This
country is broken up well by waterways, the benefits of
which are completed by heavy dews and welcome summer
showers, which meet amply the needs of the crops for
refreshment during the dry season. But the fact must be
borne in mind that clearing must not be carried to excess in
the laudable effort to rescue the soil from its present frigidity.
If denudation is carried to an extreme degree there, the
same situation as now prevails in the United States will be
precipitated. The hill-slopes, suited only to grazing, should
be permitted to retain the timber growth, only the brush
being cleared, for the purpose of conserving the rainfall.
If indiscriminate deforestation be practised, then irrigation
in New British Columbia will become as incumbent as it is
in Southern Alberta and the United States to-day, and that
within comparatively few years. Fortunately the authori-
ties are alive to this contingency, and are maintaining a
vigilant guard over the timber wealth.

So far as the Skeena River is concerned traffic will accrue
from three principal sources — mining, fruit-raising, and
sight-seeing. The exploited mining belt in Southern British
Columbia is showing signs of becoming exhausted, and the
men who were responsible for the creation of this industry
on the " Boundary " are changing the fields of their labour
there for the more promising land to the north. Between
the massive flanks of the mountain walls are little valleys

ALASKA 331

sheltered from the destructive winds, where fruit- culture
holds out extremely attractive possibilities. The tourist
searching for Nature unadorned will find the jagged cliffs of
the Cascades rising precipitously from the winding river to
offer endless fascination. Large numbers of travellers will
make the combined rail and river journey of 100 miles
from Prince Rupert to Kitselas Canyon to admire this
magnificent spectacle of mountain and waterfall in
just the same way as they penetrate the Grand Canyon
of Arizona, or ascend the mountain railways of Swit-
zerland.

However, the influences exercised by this new steel high-
way will be felt far beyond the confines of the Dominion. In
the first place, Alaska is striding forward with wonderful
rapidity. Its growth to-day is as phenomenal as was that
of Canada itself in the closing years of the nineteenth
century. Its incalculable mineral wealth is being opened
up, the railway conquest of the country has begun in
decided earnest, and in the interior agriculture holds out
every promise of attaining considerable proportions. The
Alaskan summer lasts one hundred days, and in that brief
season wheat and hay of the finest quality can be raised
prolifically, and will find a ready market on the spot, as
mining settlements spring up on all sides.

Already the traffic between the United States and its
northern territory has swollen to large dimensions, and the
tendency is being maintained. The southernmost limit of
the Alaskan shore is only 30 miles distant from Prince
Rupert, which is half-way between Seattle and Skaguay.
The completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway will
bring that country about forty -eight hours nearer Chicago,
New York, and the east, for the 550 miles' sail down the
coast from Prince Rupert to Vancouver will be devoted to
its equivalent time of travel across the continent by rail.
In other words, a passenger bound for Chicago who lands at
Prince Rupert to travel overland by the Grand Trunk

332 JAPAN

Pacific will have reached Edmonton by the time another
passenger bound for the same city via the Canadian Pacific
line lands at Vancouver. Such an advantage is too power-
ful to be ignored by commercial interests, and it is for this
reason that the Eastern United States, which at present are
suffering acutely from remote situation in regard to Alaska,
are anticipating so keenly the driving of the " Golden
Spike," signifying the completion of the new line, as it will
constitute the highway to Alaska from their point of
view.

Then again, it is destined to change travel around the
Northern Hemisphere completely, because Prince Rupert,
the western terminus, holds a peculiar position geographi-
cally. It is nearer Japan and China than any other port
along the Pacific coast by about 500 miles. With the type
of mail-boat at present in service on the Western Ocean,
this represents a saving of about one day's steaming at
least. Consequently, in these busy times, when no effort is
spared to reduce the time occupied in travel, this line must
develop into a great artery of traffic for merchandise, mail,
and passengers flowing to and from Great Britain and the
Orient via North America. The eastern centres of the
United States have not failed to grasp the significance of
this important factor, and it will be over the new trans-
continental railway that the bulk of American traffic with
Asia will pass from all points east of Chicago. As matters
stand at the present moment the new line offers a means of
reducing the time occupied in journeying between London
or New York to Yokohama, Shanghai, and Hong Kong by
twenty-four hours at the very least.

Rival ports on the Pacific may strive to nullify this
handicap, but it is beyond their capacity. They can re-
duce, but they cannot eliminate the advantage pre-
sented to the railway by Nature. Faster boats may
be pressed into service between Vancouver, Seattle,
or San Francisco and the Asiatic sea-board, but the

ECONOMISING TIME 333

rival favoured with geographical situation will merely
have to adopt similar expedients to maintain its over-
whelming lead.

This point has been driven home time after time, and has
influenced the marvellous growth of Prince Rupert to a
very emphatic degree. But now one can get beyond the
bounds of theory ; possibility has been emphasised by the
irrefutable evidence of practical results. A Vancouver
freight-boat was commissioned to bring a cargo of cement
from Hong Kong to Prince Rupert. According to the
captain's own admissions, he made the new Canadian port
three days earlier than he could have gained Vancouver.
With modern high-speed mail-vessels such a great differ-
ence in time would not be feasible, but it would be pro-
portionate. When mails are in transit, all things being
equal, the quickest route is followed, and this will be the
mail route to Asia. The Canadian Government and people
will foster this development to their utmost, owing to
their individual interest from the financial point of view.
The creation of a large volume of remunerative traffic by
native effort is certain, for the country has sunk the money
in building 1800 miles of the line, and has assisted the
second moiety very heavily. This combination of private
and public enterprise is somewhat unusual, but it is a
policy which in this particular instance augurs well for
complete success.

The time thus saved in crossing the Pacific will be main-
tained, if not increased, on the journey across the continent,
owing to the very easy grades through the mountains. A
tangible idea of what this means in competition can be
obtained very easily, and without soaring into the realms
of fancy, by means of the existing time-tables. As the
mountain grades of the Grand Trunk Pacific are no heavier
than those found on the prairie, the schedule now in force
between Winnipeg and Edmonton may be used for the
whole journey, while the present trans -continental service

334 RIVAL LINE

of the Canadian Pacific Railway affords a basis for com-
parison.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Winnipeg Express takes
twenty-nine and a quarter hours to cover the 793 miles
between the capitals of Manitoba and Alberta. This repre-
sents an average speed, including stops, of 27 "l miles per
hour. On the same showing the journey of 949 miles be-
tween Edmonton and Prince Rupert should occupy a
further thirty-five and a half hours, making sixty-four and
three-quarter hours for the whole 1742 miles between the
Pacific terminus and Winnipeg. The Canadian Pacific
Railway requires sixty-four hours to cover the distance
between Vancouver and Winnipeg, though its route is 258
miles shorter, but the average speed drops down to 23"18
miles per hour. This comjDaratively slow travelling is
attributable entirely to the heavy adverse grades which
have to be overcome in the mountains, and which nullify
the advantage of less mileage.

But on a trans-continental journey such as this an
accelerated schedule would be brought into force on the
Grand Trunk Pacific as obtains on other similar systems
for through traffic. Owing to the excellence of this
permanent way, " The Limited " should be able to main-
tain a speed of 35 miles an hour easily. In this event
Winnipeg would be only fifty hours distant from the
coast, and the saving in travelling time by this route
as compared with its rival would be no less than fourteen
hours.

Moreover, while the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway can
accelerate its service within very wide limits, the Canadian
Pacific, on the other hand, is hampered by its grades to
such an extent that acceleration on the existing road is well-
nigh impossible. Re-alignment and reconstruction may
possibly enable this handicap to be reduced somewhat, but
it is doubtful, in view of the prodigious cost that would be
involved, whether the end would justify the means.

RIVAL LINE 335

The fact is only too palpable, when the Grand Trunk
Pacific Railway settles down to trans-continental business,
that Winnipeg will be brought between ten and fourteen
hours nearer the Pacific coast than it is to-day. This is not
idle conjecture, because the journey between Winnipeg and
Edmonton has been completed with ease in twenty-four
hours, representing an average speed of 33 miles per
hour, and there is no cogent reason why this speed
should not be maintained for another 949 miles to Prince
Rupert.

Continuing eastwards from Winnipeg to Quebec, which
is the mail port on the St. Lawrence River, the Grand
Trunk Pacific increases its advantage very appreciably. In
the first place, the distance is 23G miles less than the
Canadian Pacific route between these two points, the
respective distances being 1351 and 1587 miles. According
to the time-table the Canadian Pacific Express occupies
thirty-three and a quarter hours to cover this distance,
which is equivalent to a speed of 28 '42 miles per hour. Now
as the Grand Trunk Pacific possesses no sharper curves and
heavier grades east than are to be found west of Winnipeg,
the Winnipeg-Edmonton train schedule may be used over
this 1351 miles.

On this reckoning Quebec could be reached from the
grain centre of the Dominion in less than fifty hours, show-
ing a saving of time as compared with its rival of five and
a half hours. But the saving would be much greater in
practice. The Canadian Pacific Railway, after passing
Winnipeg, accelerates its expresses by 5*24 miles per hour.
The Grand Trunk Pacific, on the other hand, could
accelerate to 35 miles per hour without undue effort, in
which case the journey could be covered in 39*6 hours,
giving a total saving in time on the journey of sixteen hours
between Winnipeg and Quebec.

By travelling over the Grand Trunk Pacific between
Quebec and Prince Rupert it will be possible to span the

336 WATER AND RAIL TRANSPORT

Dominion in about ninety hours, whereas the journey to-
day between Quebec and Vancouver occupies over 119
hours. Such an economy in time in favour of the former
route, added to the time saved on the trans-Pacific Ocean
journey, brings Quebec over two days nearer China and
Japan, and the effect of this is radiated so far as New York
on the one hand, and to London on the other.

If the journey is continued right through to the Atlantic
sea-board a similar proportion results, for the rival rail-
way cannot make up the time it loses in the toil through
the mountains. On the other hand, the Grand Trunk
Pacific is a galloping ground for the iron horse for the
whole of its 3543 miles. Lest it may be thought that this
new track will never be able to sustain high speeds, it may
be mentioned that specials have whirled over short sections
of the Winnipeg-Edmonton division at speeds ranging up
to 60 miles an hour, and, as I can testify from experience,
there is no greater oscillation or vibration when speeding
along at that velocity than when travelling at 20 miles an
hour. This offers convincing testimony to the excellence
of the permanent way and its substantial construc-
tion.

There is another feature which must not be overlooked,
and yet it is one of vital importance to the farmers on the
prairie. Owing to the easy grades of the new line being so
favourable to heavy trains, engines of equal capacity should
be able to handle almost twice the tonnage on the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway as is possible on the Canadian
Pacific Railway. In other words, if a certain engine could
haul a train of 1000 tons on the latter line, the same engine
should be able to draw 2000 tons over the new trans-
continental track.

Now a vast quantity of grain is carried from the wheat-
lands of the west to the ports of the east by a combined rail
and water route, which is cheaper than by through rail. It
is this trade which, according to Mr. Duncan MacPherson,

WATER AND RAIL TRANSPORT 337

M.INST.C.E., is in danger of being threatened with compe-
tition to such an extent as to make it appear " as if the days
of the absolute supremacy of water transportation were in
danger of, at least, a partial eclipse." *
- " Transportation of grain by water has always been much
cheaper than by rail, but the latter has been slowly but
surely cheapening, until the present time, where the easy
gradients and tremendously powerful locomotives of
modern lines will make a combination on land difficult to
excel or, peradventure, to equal, on water.

" The heaviest locomotive built to date (1909) — a Mallet
articulated compound — is capable of hauling on this grade
(21*12 feet per mile) a gross load behind the tender of 4290
tons. Assuming the tare 33| per cent of the gross load, the
net paying load would be 2860 tons, equal to 95,333 bushels
of wheat, in one train. If we assume the earnings of such
trains to be §4*40 (18s. 4d.) per train mile, or exactly
double the earnings of the Canadian Pacific Railway freight
train miles for 1908, we find the cost per bushel over the
1351 miles between Winnipeg and Quebec to be $4 "25
(17s. 8d.). The lowest rate that the writer is aware of
having been in force from Fort William to Montreal, via
the Lake Canal and St. Lawrence River, a distance of 1216
miles, was 4 cents (2d.) per bushel for 1216 miles in 1908.
This 4 cents per bushel would be equivalent to 4*44 cents
2-22d.) for 1351 miles, so that at $4'40 (18s. 4d.) per train
mile, the engines above referred to could haul grain on the
trans-continental railway east-bound from Winnipeg to
Quebec for 0*19 cent (0-095d.) per bushel cheaper than the
cheapest existing water route could haul it the same dis-
tance, and 10*86 cents (5*43d.) per bushel cheaper than the
present combined rail and water rates between the two
points in question. In brief, at about one-quarter the
present rail and water rate."

* Paper read before the engineering section of the British Association
at Winnipeg.

388 MR. HAYS

The advantage that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
holds over its formidable rival between Winnipeg and
Prince Rupert is far greater on the second half of the
journey. In the former case it is easy grades alone which
stand so much in its favour, but in the latter case it is both
grades and shorter mileage which demand consideration.
The distance between Winnipeg and Moncton, according to
the above authority, is 261 miles less than the shortest
distance over any other combined railways connecting
these two points.

Yet the whole of the grain grown on the prairie will not
move towards Europe by way of the Atlantic seaports.
When Mr. Hays announced some few years ago that the
grain raised west of a certain meridian would be shipped to
Europe by way of the Pacific coast he was laughed to
scorn. The idea of sending wheat more than half-way
round the globe to the European markets was regarded as
a huge joke. The obvious channel to Europe was via the
Atlantic, had been so since wheat was first cultivated on
the prairie, and would remain so until the crack of doom,
argued the wiseacres.

The farmers, however, regarded this extraordinary pro-
nouncement on the part of the railway President in a
different light. That there was some cogent reason prompt-
ing his remarks was very evident to them, inasmuch as Mr.
Hays very seldom speaks. They investigated the subject
closely. To them it was a question of far-reaching im-
portance, as transportation is a vital problem. A long
train-haul is always and unavoidably expensive. If, by
sending the grain via the Pacific sea-board, they could save
an infinitesimal fraction of a cent per bushel over what it
cost to forward in another direction, then that insignificant
economy in freightage charges on the individual bushel
would amount to a goodly sum when several thousand
bushels were concerned. As a result of their quiet thinking
and requests for further enlightenment upon the subject.

PROPHECY FULFILLED 339

they found that the Grand Trunk Pacific, by virtue of its
easy mountain grades, would be able to quote a lower rate
for shipping grain westward of a certain line of demarcation
on the prairie to Prince Rupert than the cheapest combined
rail and water route eastwards to the Atlantic. What at
first sight had appeared such a great absurdity quickly
became a stern reality, for within a very short time of the
President's expression of opinion concerning the movement
of grain, the first boat -load of wheat grown on the prairie
left Vancouver bound for England via Cape Horn. Others
soon followed, some favouring the homeward run through
the Suez Canal. The water journey was terribly lengthy,
but it was cheaper.

The presidential prophecy having been discovered to be
commercially practicable, the farmers in the west grew
somewhat aggressive. Instead of meekly accepting the
railway's decision as to which route their grain should be
dispatched to Europe, they insisted emphatically that it
should be sent the way they demanded, so that their
transportation expenditure might be reduced.

This sudden change in the flow of the river of wheat from
the great north-west is certain to exercise a great influence
upon the future of Prince Rupert. Certain interests have
assailed the railway for establishing its Pacific port so far
north, but as this opposition has proceeded from rival
shipping centres along the coast, it has failed to produce
any permanent impression. Then they have veered round,
and stated that, although Prince Rupert is the nominal
port, the new trans-continental railway intends to
establish its Pacific head-quarters at Vancouver. Even
to-day, despite official denials, this theory is maintained
tenaciously in many quarters, it being pointed out that
Prince Rupert can never be more than a mere trans-
shipping centre — it fails to possess the opportunities for
development such as exist at Vancouver, Seattle, or San
Francisco. But, as a matter of fact, it has facilities for

340 FISHING-GROUNDS

economic development far greater than any of its Pacific
rivals can show. Yet its growth will be at the expense of
its southern rival on Canadian territory.

When the line is opened the movement of wheat via the
Pacific to Europe will reflect its tremendous proportions at
Prince Rupert. Huge grain elevators have been planned,
and are to be erected on the water-front to house the grain
pending shipment. The port will be to the west in
regard to grain what Fort William will be to the Great
Lakes and the east — the wheat-clearing centre. This
traffic will assume its greatest proportions when the
Panama Canal is completed, for a shorter route between
Western Canada and this country by water will be avail-
able.

The traffic that will be created in the vicinity of Prince
Rupert alone will be of such a character as to bring very
appreciable revenue to the railway. The port's future as
a great maritime centre is assured, and, moreover, it will
become the Grimsby of the Pacific. Within 100 miles of
the port are the largest fishing-grounds in the New World.
A huge sum of money is sunk in this harvest of the sea, and
the whole of the traffic is handled at present at Vancouver
and Seattle, whence it is transported by rail to the eastern
provinces of Canada and the United States, as well as this
country. In a recent year over 50,000,000 pounds of
halibut alone were taken from these adjacent beds. In
weight this represented the equivalent of 50,000 head of
beef. This was taken south, and 90 per cent of this pro-
duce was dispatched by the various railways to the Atlantic
sea-board, a considerable quantity reaching Great Britain.
The sail from the Pacific banks to Vancouver occupied from
three to four days. When the Grand Trunk Pacific is com-
pleted, this long transport to railway terminals will be
avoided, and the hauls will be sent through the new
channel, so that the various markets where this fish is held
in high esteem will receive it from two to four days earlier

FISHING-GROUNDS 341

than is possible at present, this saving of time representing
an equivalent period of freshness.

It is difficult to realise the future of this fishing industry
around Prince Rupert. In a single catch over 400,000
pounds of edible fish, comprising nearly thirty varieties,
have been secured in eight hours. There is an available
market of some 100,000,000 people for this produce, and
by the new railway and its various spurs connecting with
other lines on the great North American Continent the
fishing-grounds will be brought into direct communication
with the table. The salmon fishery alone has attained con-
siderable dimensions, although yet it is only in its infancy.
The average yearly export of this commodity caught in the
Skeena and Naas Rivers approximates $1,000,000, or
£200,000, and this is capable of considerable extension
when immediate railway facilities are provided.

The discovery of gold and other commercial minerals at
Stewart will affect this new port and railway to an ap-
preciable extent, seeing that it is the only supply point for
the district. Stewart is less than 100 miles north of Prince
Rupert, and as the country opens up a new and valu-
able source of traffic tributary to the railway will be
created.

The construction of this new highway across the Do-
minion, however, does not constitute the Alpha and Omega
of this huge enterprise. The Grand Trunk Pacific will be
to Canada what the Cape to Cairo line will become to
Africa — the railway backbone of the country, with spurs
radiating on either side tapping valuable areas to feed the
main stream. On the prairie, south of the main track, a
network of lines is being woven, extending to competitive
points, contemporaneously with the growth of the vertebra.
A policy of spirited aggression is being followed with no
respect for any rival's preserves. One outcome of this
movement will be an alternative outlet to Vancouver, in
conjunction with the magnificent railroads controlled by

342 LINKING UP

Mr. James J. Hill. The Grand Trunk Pacific will throw its
tentacle through the Crow's-nest Pass to link up with the
latter system, gaining access to Spokane, Vancouver,
Southern British Columbia, Seattle, and San Francisco.
Calgary is being brought into touch with the main system,
while Regina, the progressive capital of Saskatchewan, is
being provided with a link from Melville, and will be con-
nected with the American railways as well as with Hudson's
Bay.

In due course the Klondyke will be connected with the
rest of the continent, providing an all-rail route between
the United States and Alaska. In the east charters have
been secured for the construction of alternative lines
traversing unexploited sections of Ontario and Quebec,
affording shorter and quicker communication between the
Grand Trunk Pacific and its parent system, the Grand
Trunk Railway. The construction of these spurs will be
prosecuted as the country develops, but it is in the great
west that the greatest railway-building activity and
initiative is being manifested to-day. Still, it is a significant
sign of the reawakening of the east that pressure is being
exercised from all sides to bring the main line into touch
with a number of adjacent and highly promising districts
where development has commenced.

By the time the Government's years of grace, enabling
the railway to create its traffic, and to establish its footing
fu'mly on the ladder of prosperity, have expired, the system
should have secured a position of unassailable indepen-
dency. If the present state of affairs is maintained — there
is every indication that a set-back in Canada's economic
expansion is remote in the extreme — and the country along
the new railway continues to be settled as rapidly and as
thoroughly as is the case to-day, then those who have
supported the enterprise will gain a rich reward. The
work has been prosecuted with remarkable vigour, and,
bearing in mind the innumerable and prodigious diffi-

LINKING UP 343

culties that have had to be overcome, undoubtedly it
ranks as one of the greatest achievements of modern
times. Certainly it is one of the most stupendous under-
takings that a young country of less than 7,000,000 people
ever attempted.

INDEX

Abitibi, Lake, 53, 80, 100

Abitibi River, loi

Agricultural belt, a great, 33

Agricultural land, 84

Agriculture, 207

Aldermere, 234

'• All- Red Route," an, 26

Arable land, 32

Assiniboine River, 134

Athabaska River, the, 173, 191

Avalanches, land, and rock slides, 269

Backwoods, the, 45
Backwoods, loneliness of the, 75
" Bad River," the, 201
Ballast distributor, the, 299
Ballast trucks, 299
Bankrupt contractors, 259
Battle River Viaduct, 306
Bear and the Transit, the, 167
Bears and the cache, 169
Beaver River, 208
Beavers and engineers, 195
Big Game, the home of, 209
Big HiU, 40
Black River, 100
Blasting, 119

Bridges, 302, 304, 309, 310
Bridging the St. Lawrence, 125
British Columbia, 18, 34
Briil^ Lake, 123
Buck Deer Rapids, the, 83
Building restriction, 155
Bulkley River, 286
Bulkley Summit, 233
Bush fires, 81

Caches, 58

Caches, destruction of, by fire, 81

Camp, life in a, 238

Camps of to-day, 184

Canoe River, the, 203

Canoeing, dangers of, 60

Canoes, 59

Canoes on the Eraser River, 209

Cap Rouge Viaduct, the, 303

Capital, the necessary, 276

Carberry plains, 133

Cascades, the, 39, 267

Cassatt, President, 38

Casualties, 120

Cedars, 206

Cemeteries round Ottawa, the, 72

Centennial Exposition, the, 34

Chain-man, 105

Chinaman and his potatoes, the, 247

Chipewyan, Fort, 33

" Clay Belt " of New Ontario, 84

Clearing the land, 85

Clearing the right of way, 98

Climate, 90

Clover Bar, 305

Cobalt, silver mines of, 84

Cochrane, 90, loi

CoUn Mountains, 197

Commissariat, the, 58

" Common," 99

Construction, methods of, 37

Contractor, the, 99

Cook, the, 70, 243

Copper River, 236

Corduroy roads, 104

Cost of transport, 337

345

346

INDEX

Crib- work, 285

Cribs, 311

Culverts, 290

Curvature, the maximum, 52

Daily round, the, 245
Deadfall and windfall, 164, 217
Denwood, the story of, 151
Desperate straits of a survey party,

75
Desroches, Joseph, death of, 79
"Divide," the, 179
Doctors, the, 68
Dog-sleighs, 62
Driving a dog-team, hardships of, 65

Edmonton, 158, 179
Edson, 33, 160
EflBciency, standard of, 55
Elevator, a gigantic grain, 144
Embankments, 284
Endako Valley, 233
Engineer-in-chief, the, 105
Englehart, 97
Excavations, 288
Exploration, extent of the, 50
Explosions, expensive, 282
Explosives factory, an, 278

Farmers and labour, 135

Farmers and railway-builders, 104

Feeding the men, 245

Ferries, 183

Fielding, Mr. W. S., 27

"First Locations," 51

Fleming, Sir Sandford, 201

" Flier, The," 181

Folding mountain, 179

Forest, dangers of the, 45

Forests, impenetrable, 217

" Formation " level, 290

Fort William, 29, 103, 116, 144

Fort Vermilion, 34

"Four-tenths Van," 177

Fraser River, 42, 174, 204

Eraser, Simon, 201

Freighting timber, 138
Fresh meat, 247
Fruit-growing, 36

Gahcians as labourers, 298
Gatineau River, the, 62
Giscombe Rapids, the, 210
Goat Rapids, the, 210
Government maps, unreliability of

the, 50
Government support, 27
Grades and curvatures, 38, 39, 199
Grading machine, the, 113
Grain, 143
Grain elevators, 340
Grand Canyon, the, 210
Grand Trunk Railway, 18, 25
Great Lakes, the, 35
Grizzly and Jones, the, 166

Halibut fishery, 322

Hardships of the work, 53

Harricanaw River, 87

Harriman, Mr., 19

Hauling capacity of the engine, 40

Hays, C. M., 18

Hays, Mount, 318

Hazelton, 236

Health of the camps, 243

Height of land, the, 37

Hellen Lake, 102

Heroes, 71

Hill, James J., 342

" Hole in the Wall, The," 267

Hornet's nest, the, 275,

Hospitals, 106, 184

Hotels, 324

Hot springs, 329

Hudson's Bay Company, the, 33,

45.58
Hygiene, 106

Ice-bound countries, 36
Indian boy and the lost transit, 1 17
Indians and the railway, 228
Instruments of the surveyor, 49

INDEX

347

Irma, the town of, 1 56
Irreducible minimum, the, 39
Itahans as workers, 262

James Bay, 36, 95

Japanese Chinook Wind, the, 35

Jasper Park, 195

Jones, R. W., 163

Julius Muskeg, 54

Kelliher, B. B., 171
Kicking Horse Pass, 40
Kispiox Valley, 236
Kitselas Canyon, 272, 282
Kitsumgallum River, 288

Labour, a comparison of, 240
Labour difficulties, 104
Lake Superior Junction, 29
Land-slide, a, 296
Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, 24, 26
Leamy, Walter, heroism of, 72
Lease of the railway, the, 28
Lecours, death of, 80
"Lining-up" and " Lining- down,"

273

Liquor law, the, 250

Little Smoky River, 215

Log shacks, 242

London and the new project, 25, 27

"Loose rock," 99

Lumber industry, 206, 322

Lumsden, Mr. H.,48

McDougall's Chutes, 100
MacLeod River, 141, 190
MacPherson, Duncan, 336
Mail service, the, 106
Main street, 156
Mattagami River, the, 302
Mattress of tree trunks, 115
Medical aid, 68
Melville, the town of, 158
Metlakatla, 318
Miette River, 166, 174, 197
Minerals, 237

Minerals in New Ontario, 87
Mining, 208, 322
Missanabic River, 87
Moncton, 28, 48
Montreal, 21

Mountain division, the, 134
Mountain section, the, 29
Mounted Police, the, 253
Muskeg, 54, 191, 194
Muskeg-filler, the, 114

" Narrows, The," 314

Nechaco Valley, the, 232

New British Columbia, 231

New Brunswick, 42, 44

New Year's Eve amongst the Indians,

175
Nipigon Lake, 53, 61, 102
Nipigon Town, 116
Nipissing, Lake, 37
North Bay Junction, 37
Nova Scotia, 44

Ontario, 18, 20, 35, 36, 45, 61

Opasatica Lake, 73

Ottawa, 23, 25, 48

" Over-burden," the limit of, 100, 261

Oxen for hauling, 182

Pacific Coast, the, 21

Passes, selection of, 170

Peace River Country, the, 33

Peace River Pass, 34, 171

Pembina River, 308

Pic River, the, 61

Pierre Belcour, atypical Indian, 164

Pine River Pass, 171

Plotting the line, 51

Political parties and the railways, 22

Porcupine gold fields, 93

Portaging, 60

Portage-la-Prairie, 134

Port Arthur, 35

Port Simpson, 315

Postman, the, 69

Prairie Creek, 179, 191

348

INDEX

Prairie, crossing the, 137
Prairie schooners, 33
"Prairie section," the, 29
Prairie towns, 157
Prince Rupert, 29
Prince Rupert Harbour, 323
Prohibition Law, the, 252, 308
Provisions, supplying, 58
Pulp-wood industry, 89
" Pusher" grades, 42

Quebec, 18, 35, 41, 45
Quesnel, 209

Rails, 292

Reconnoitring forces, 44

Red Indians as labourers, 303

Revillon Brothers, Messrs., 102

Rivers and Creeks, 1 1 1

Rivers, crossing, 46, 49

Rivers, dangers of the, 78

Roche Miette, the, 174, 196

" Rock," 99

Rock, difficulties with, 119

Rock-cutting and drilling, 279

Rockies, plotting a railway through

the, 39, 42, 161, 178
Rod-man, 105
Rothschild, Messrs., 27
'• Ruhng " grade, the, 39
Russell, G. H., 270

St. Lawrence River, 124

Salmon fishery, 321

Salmon river, 220

Saskatoon, 158

Scandinavians as workers, 262

Scotsmen as labourers, 264

Sections of the divisions, 29

Selkirk Mountains, 203

Settlers and pioneers, 34

Silver mines of Cobalt, 84

Silverado, 93

" Sink-holes," 114

Siwash Indians as canoe-men, 202

Skeena Bridge, 313

Skeena, estuary of the, 268

Skeena River, the, 163, 236, 266

Sleepers, 291

Slipping ground, 141

Slush on the lakes, dangers of the,

^ 73. "7

Smuggling liquor, 253
Snow, S3
Snow-sheds, 287
Soda Creek, 213
Southern Ontario, 89
Southern Pacific Railway, the, 19
Specifications, 192
Speed and grade, 334
Speyer Brothers, Messrs., 27
Sport, 329

Station-man, the, 254
Steam shovel, the, no, 283
Steamboats on the Skeena, 270
Stephens, Frank, 216
Stewart, J. W., 189, 259
Stewart, minerals at, 341
Stone-boat, the, 122
Sudbury, 45

Summer, work during, 53
Summit altitudes, 199
Sun Dance Creek, 187
Sunday in a camp, 249
Superior, Lake, 35
Surveying, 48
Surveying-engineer, the 50
Survey, the, 27
Swamps, 46, 109

Telegraph line, the, 143
Telephone line, fixing a, 103
Tel-kwa River, 235
Temiskaming, 37
Tete Jaune Cache, 42, 179
Timber, 205
Timber diflBculties, 137
Timber wealth, 204
Toboggans, 186
"Town-boomers," 149
Town-site Company, 153
Track-layer, the, 293

INDEX

349

Trafl5c with the East, 332
Transcona, 160
Transit-man, 105
Transport, cost of, 58
Trees, felling, 192
Trestling, 42, in, 139, 195,
" Tuck's Inlet," 316
Tunnelling, 287

United States and the new project, 27
Upper Ottawa River, 79

Value of land, 88

Van ArsdoU, C. C, 163

Vancouver, 228

Vegetables, 87

Victoria Jubilee Bridge, 1 32

Viking, the town of, 156

Wabamun Lake, 180
Wabash Railway, the, 19
Wages, labour, 104, 240
Wain Wright and Den wood, 152
Wapiti Pass, the, 171
Waterways, perils of the, 78
Wheat, great boom in, 17, 32
WUson, Sir C. R., 18, 20
Winnipeg, 28
Winnipeg, Lake, 33
Winter, intense cold of the, 53
Winter, the dangers of, 47
Wolf Creek, 29, 178
Working expenditure, 28

Yellowhead Pass, 34, 42, 166
Y.M.C.A., the work of the, 251

WILLIAM BRENOON AND SON, LTD.
PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH

Talbot, FrGderir'- -"^r^.hur

2810

Ambrose

G65T2

The making of a qreat

Canadian railway

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